Former England midfielder Paul Gascoigne says boredom was to blame for the latest setback in his efforts to beat alcohol addiction.
Gascoigne recently spent a month at a rehabilitation clinic in Phoenix, Arizona after another relapse in his well-publicised battle with alcohol, with his agent telling BBC Radio 5 Live that the ex-footballer "needs to get help".
The 45-year-old told Sky Sports News: "I was just bored, that's the worst thing for me but I suppose it was me that made myself bored."
He added: "There was no one to blame for my relapse. I might drink in the future but that's what it is, being an alcoholic.
"I didn't respond to (chief executive) Steve Spiegel (at the) the Providence Projects (an alcohol and drug rehab organisation) and I should have done when I was feeling down and the support I got around the Providence was fantastic.
"The last 11 years, I've probably drank 14 months out of it. The press say I'm drinking all the time, it's not.
"I was three years sober and then I had a four or five weeks binge. It's just those little binges so I've just got to stop those binges.
"When I'm drinking, I forget about everyone and don't realise the hurt I'm doing to everyone but I've also got to think about the hurt I was doing to myself.
"I don't know if I'm ever going to touch a drink again. I just know that I'm not drinking today."
His latest stint in rehab was organised by a group of celebrity friends that included former England team-mate Gary Lineker, TalkSPORT presenter and ex-England cricketer Ronnie Irani and Radio 2 presenter Chris Evans.
Source: PA
