{"id":858968,"date":"2026-03-29T21:05:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T21:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/858968\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T21:05:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T21:05:21","slug":"i-became-a-burden-it-finally-caught-up-with-me-wayne-lineker-opens-up-on-his-alcohol-hell-the-devastating-call-from-his-son-that-changed-everything-and-truth-behind-that-surprise-family-reunio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/858968\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I became a burden. It finally caught up with me’: WAYNE LINEKER opens up on his alcohol hell, the devastating call from his son that changed everything… and truth behind THAT surprise family reunion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Party-loving Wayne Lineker\u2019s life has taken a rather different turn of late. It is eight months since the 63-year-old businessman gave up drinking, and swapped his hedonistic life in Ibiza for the quieter climes of Essex.<\/p>\n

When the Daily Mail visited him at his new-build property last week, he was in a contemplative mood \u2013 not to mention in the middle of a seven-day fast.<\/p>\n

Since becoming sober and healing a 17-year rift with his brother Gary, Wayne admits that everything in his life is coming together. And all that is missing is someone to share his new life of sobriety with.<\/p>\n

He has been single for eight years since splitting from his ex-fiancee Danielle Sandhu, 33, who he dated for four years.<\/p>\n

\u2018I had a beautiful relationship with my ex, and I just found it difficult to replace her,\u2019 he shrugs. \u2018She was just perfect. She ended up getting a modelling career, and I was seeing less of her.\u2019<\/p>\n

Despite previously admitting on Celebs Go Dating<\/a> that he has never gone out with a woman over 30, Wayne added: \u2018I don\u2019t want a party girl. I\u2019m looking for someone a little bit older than what I\u2019m used to, somewhere around 40ish.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019d love someone to settle down with. It\u2019s my ultimate goal now and the last piece in my jigsaw puzzle. Everything\u2019s coming together, I just need a girlfriend.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"It <\/p>\n

It is eight months since Wayne Lineker gave up drinking, and swapped his hedonistic life in Ibiza for the quieter climes of Essex… pictured here with Katie Price<\/p>\n

\"Wayne\u2019s <\/p>\n

Wayne\u2019s social media feeds have been a stream of Balearic sunsets and young clubbers on the island, alongside poses with the likes of Conor McGregor<\/p>\n

\"Having <\/p>\n

Having consumed what he estimates to be 52,000 drinks over the past 13 years, as well as using drugs, he admits to living on \u2018vodka and Red Bull and cheese toasties\u2019<\/p>\n

While he remains single, he has at least tentatively improved his relationship with his brother, the former England footballer Gary. While it is far from perfect, and has yet to return to their previous closeness, he says he is more than happy with the direction it has taken after all these years.<\/p>\n

\u2018Our relationship now is good, and so it should be,\u2019 he says, speaking to the Daily Mail for the first time about the healing of a rift that has marked the past 17 years. \u2018Life is too short, and I think we both realise that.<\/p>\n

\u2018But we\u2019re not on the terms we used to be. We used to be so close, we used to play golf, we used to go down to his house for Sunday lunch. We\u2019re not at that level, but we\u2019re in a nice place now. And I\u2019m very happy about that.\u2019<\/p>\n

The breakdown of the sibling relationship has been a sore point, which neither brother has ever discussed in any detail \u2013 although it was understood to be linked to a fallout over Gary\u2019s then-fiancee Danielle Bux, with whom Wayne \u2018didn\u2019t spark\u2019 when they first met.<\/p>\n

But theirs was never going to be a straightforward bond given their obvious differences. Clean-cut Gary, 65, was the star England striker who went on to become one of the BBC\u2019s highest-paid presenters, while his younger brother Wayne crafted a public image that he freely admits led most people to think he was \u2018a bit of a d***\u2019.<\/p>\n

Twice-divorced Wayne\u2019s social media feeds have been a stream of Balearic sunsets and young clubbers attending his Ocean Beach bar, where he has his own champagne-soaked VIP table, and he was jailed for two and a half years in 2006 for his role in a money-laundering scam.<\/p>\n

He has also taunted Gary on social media for his posts on Twitter (now X) criticising the UK Government\u2019s approach to the migrant crisis \u2013 posts which had led to Gary being suspended from Match Of The Day. Wayne had shared a distasteful photo of migrants in a small boat with the caption \u2018Where Gary Lineker\u2019s house?\u2019<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s all now water under the bridge, he explains. And it was family weddings that brought them back together.<\/p>\n

\"It <\/p>\n

It was family weddings that brought Wayne and Gary back together, including daughter Tia’s marriage to football manager Harry Agombar in Majorca last year<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A photograph from the big day shows Wayne wearing a broad smile, his arm wrapped around Gary<\/p>\n

\u2018Gary and I are back as friends again,\u2019 he says positively. \u2018His son Harry got married in Ibiza, and I hadn\u2019t seen Gary or spoken to him for 15 years, other than our mum and dad\u2019s funerals. Apart from that, I haven\u2019t really had much contact with him. But then, at Harry\u2019s wedding, he sat at the table next to me, and it was like nothing had ever happened. It was weird.<\/p>\n

\u2018We started having a laugh, and the following morning I went to have breakfast with him at the hotel. It was a beautiful moment.\u2019<\/p>\n

That was followed by his daughter Tia\u2019s wedding in Majorca in August.<\/p>\n

\u2018Gary was there, and he came up to me after my speech and went, \u201cBro, that was incredible, that was one of the funniest speeches I\u2019ve ever heard,\u201d\u2019 he recalls.<\/p>\n

Indeed, a photograph from the big day shows Wayne wearing a broad smile, his arm wrapped around Gary.<\/p>\n

Perhaps age, and the fact that both brothers have seen huge changes in their lives recently, has helped them reassess their priorities.<\/p>\n

Gary, of course, departed his job as Match Of The Day host in May last year after being embroiled in further controversy over a social media post he shared about Zionism, which featured a depiction of a rat, historically an anti-Semitic insult. He later\u00a0deleted the post when he learned about the image\u2018s symbolism and apologised unreservedly.<\/p>\n

For Wayne, it was a health scare that turned him towards sobriety.<\/p>\n

Having consumed what he estimates to be 52,000 drinks over the past 13 years, as well as using drugs, he admits to living on \u2018vodka and Red Bull and cheese toasties\u2019.<\/p>\n

And behind the scenes, it was taking a huge toll on his family.<\/p>\n

\"Wayne <\/p>\n

Wayne in hospital for seven weeks after suffering two severe attacks of pneumonia<\/p>\n

Wayne has three sons \u2013 Duane, 41, Sean, 33, and Freddie, 21 \u2013 along with daughter Tia, 27, and has previously said he is on good terms with the mothers of his children, whose names have not all been disclosed.<\/p>\n

He also has three grandchildren. But while he was collecting two of them from school a couple of days a week, his son Duane decided this was no longer safe because of the alcohol in his system.<\/p>\n

\u2018It became a burden on the family,\u2019 Wayne explained. \u2018Duane is very sensible and looked after me when I was in Ibiza. But he called me in the office one day and said, \u201cDad, we can\u2019t let you pick the girls up from school any more… sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I understood, but it was a big turning point for me. It hit me like a ton of bricks.<\/p>\n

\u2018Obviously my family speaks to each other without me there, saying how worried they are.\u2019<\/p>\n

Wayne had his last drink \u2013 a glass of red wine \u2013 at Ibiza airport on July 7 while he waited for a flight back to Stansted. He spent a few days at a spa, before checking into The Priory Life Works House rehab facility in Surrey for six weeks.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was not behaving well and I didn\u2019t feel good. I didn\u2019t feel healthy and it finally caught up with me.\u2019<\/p>\n

As well as getting sober for his family, Wayne had to make a change for the sake of his business.<\/p>\n

Just weeks before going to rehab, a video went viral, where he was heavily intoxicated and attempting to take over from the DJ at his Ibiza beach club, while his business partner Tony Truman attempted to intervene.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018It all went completely wrong when that viral video of me came out behind the DJ box, which was not a good look. It was just so embarrassing. I was risking the business by behaving like that.<\/p>\n

\u2018Tony and my other business partners pulled me into the office and said, \u201cYou can\u2019t behave like this; it is not good for business.\u201d\u00a0I was in denial at first, but I was actually excited to go to rehab in the end. It is the best decision of my life.\u2019<\/p>\n

Five months into his lifestyle revamp, he was whisked to hospital, where he stayed for seven weeks after suffering two severe attacks of pneumonia.<\/p>\n

That has been a wake-up call and he is now focused on living a healthier lifestyle. Today, he is strictly on the water only, as part of his seven-day fast.<\/p>\n

He will go back to Ibiza \u2013 he is tentatively scheduled to return next month for the first two weeks of the season and will \u2018see how it goes\u2019. He tried it sober in September and lasted only two days.<\/p>\n

\u2018Everyone wants a picture, everyone\u2019s chatting to me and it\u2019s a lot when you\u2019re sober and when they\u2019re drunk,\u2019 he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2018s just such a different life for me now. I jump out of bed. I can\u2018t wait for the day. I can\u2018t even describe how well I feel compared with how terrible I felt every day.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was anxious, aching and just so tired. But now, I feel fantastic.\u2018<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Party-loving Wayne Lineker\u2019s life has taken a rather different turn of late. It is eight months since the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":858969,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[9],"tags":[92,393,77,49397,813,16,15],"class_list":["post-858968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-dailymail","tag-england","tag-entertainment","tag-match-day","tag-tvshowbiz","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116314500714883659","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=858968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/858969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=858968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=858968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=858968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}