Wayne Lineker has been open about his addiction battles in the past, but a pneumonia infection left him feeling like he had cheated death twice
15:00, 18 Jan 2026Updated 16:05, 18 Jan 2026
Wayne Lineker was rushed to hospital in agony(Image: Wayne Lineker/Instagram )
Wayne Lineker would be the first to say he’s walked the fine line between life and death in the height of his addictions – but a pneumonia infection left him feeling like he had reached the end. Two hospital stays later, Wayne is finally on the road to recovery – but admits he is still struggling with daily life. Wayne recalls how he had felt a little unwell on returning to the UK from Dubai to visit his daughter. Thinking nothing of it, he boarded his flight home and felt fine – until he got back to his house.
In the middle of the night, Wayne woke up in severe pain. “I couldn’t move at all. My phone was on the other side of the bedroom so I had to roll out of bed in complete agony to call for an ambulance,” he says. “I phoned my daughter in Dubai and she phoned her mum, who lives round the corner. I thought I was having a heart attack.” Wayne’s ex soon arrived at the house with her boyfriend to help – and they managed to get Wayne the help he needed.
Wayne was struck down with a pneumonia infection(Image: Wayne Lineker/Instagram )
Wayne had two long hospital visits last year(Image: waynelineker/Instagram)
He was rushed to hospital in the back of an ambulance, where he was diagnosed with chronic pneumonia. “I spent four weeks in hospital and then they let me go home,” he says – but he felt it was too early.
“After three days at home, I had another really big attack – I was in a severe state,” he recalls. Another trip to the GP and Wayne found himself rushed again to hospital in an ambulance. He says: “The doctor told my son I was in big danger and my blood pressure was ridiculously low. But they said, ‘We’re just going to tell your dad he’s ok. We’ll get an ambulance.”
It was another four weeks in hospital for Wayne, with him finally being able to leave on Boxing Day. “There were two times I nearly passed away – it was a real eye opener for me,” he says. “I became worried about my life. Am I going to make it? … I lost so much weight, I lost 11 kilograms of weight because I was lying in bed for seven weeks. When I came out, I just looked awful. I couldn’t look in the mirror for weeks and that was just really scary,” he says.
“I lost a lot of weight off my face as well, and all across my chest, and I looked very frail.”
Whilst Wayne suffered greatly during his battle with pneumonia, he believes he wouldn’t be here today if he hadn’t gone sober six months earlier. Open about his battle with alcohol and drug addictions, Wayne admits he struggled being alone in his Ibiza villa and instead turned to alcohol and substances to cope with his anxiety.
Wayne spent Christmas in hospital(Image: waynelineker/Instagram)
“When I was in Ibiza, I was drinking heavily every day and taking drugs. I’d wake up and be so sad and anxious and tired that I just reached out again. There’s a little bar halfway from my villa to the beach club and I’d stop in there for a cheese and tomato toastie and a vodka red bull, just to get my energy levels back. The cycle would just continue day after day,” he says.
“I never felt fresh or energised. You need two or three days to recover from a hangover. And then if you start feeling fresh, you’ve got a chance and you get a routine. But I never had the chance to get into that routine because I was so anxious and I would never turn my phone on until I’d had my vodka red bull because I was worried about what I did last night, or the messages from my family.”
It was his family who convinced him that rehab was his only way out. In July, with the support of his loved ones, Wayne completed a stint in rehab. He is now six months sober.
Whilst in Ibiza, Wayne was living with his 21-year-old son Freddie for some time, who begged him to get help. “He lived in the villa with me so he saw it first hand. He could hear me awake at nights and he saw I had a problem. He was going home to England and he just came in and cried on my chest, and said, ‘Dad, we want you to get better,'” he says.
“It was tough. When my son said, ‘Dad, we can’t have you picking the girls up from school anymore, because you always have got alcohol in your system.’ I can’t do anything wrong in my daughter’s eyes, but I could even feel her worry and concern.”
Wayne has turned his back on his Ibiza clubbing days(Image: waynelineker/Instagram)
It was his eldest who prompted a family action plan to get Wayne the help he needed. “I just don’t think I’d have ended up in rehab if it wasn’t for my family. And rehab was absolutely the best decision of my life. I wouldn’t be here now if I didn’t go to rehab,” he says.
Looking forward, as well as focusing on his health, Wayne wants to open up rehab centres and support others going through similar journeys to him.
“I’m starting to go to the gym every day. I’m very slow with my weights and I’m taking all the right supplements for what my body needs. I think my immune system is coming back. I do tai chi every morning. I do breathing classes every morning. I’m in that routine now and I’m coming away from the industry. I’ve had a good run,” he says.
Wayne wants to use his entrepreneurship to open rehab centres across the UK. “I just thought that’s probably my destiny now to help people and to speak in my own rehab centres and sit down and tell people my life story,” he says.
Family is very important to Wayne(Image: )
Wayne says his family speak differently to him now(Image: )
Will he make a return to his famous beach club in Ibiza? “You’ve got the music. You’ve got the groups of guys, the groups of girls, and they’re all on you. You’ve got the sunshine, the orange cups – and it’s tough,” he says.
“I’ve realised that there is another side to life and my next chapter is about health. I want to get better. I want to get stronger. I want to look better. I hope I can be that person that people will respect and go, ‘Actually he’s sorted himself out and fair play to him. He’s turned it around.’ I’ll carry on being sober because I’m enjoying it, and it’s got a lot of benefits.”
Wayne says so much has changed for him since he got sober – his energy, his family relationships and his whole life.
“My energy levels now are so smooth. I can’t remember experiencing that before. When I get out of bed, I’m fresh. My family speak differently to me now. They involve me more and I can tell they’re more interested in my life now and they’re starting to be proud of me. It’s so nice,” he says.
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