Addiction meant sobriety or six feet under, says TV star

Warning: this article refers to drugs and drug taking throughout

From wrestling in nettles to being shot at point blank range wearing nothing but a bulletproof vest and sunglasses - TV star Mathew Pritchard has pushed his body to the limit, in every aspect.

Former professional skateboarder, Pritchard, 52, was propelled into the limelight in the early 2000s after being scouted for MTV's extreme prank series Dirty Sanchez and "soaked up" all the drinks, drugs and partying that came with his newfound fame.

"Every day you woke up and you were in a mess, but you get back on it again. Drink and drugs, for me, were fun, until they were not," said Pritchard, from Cardiff.

When the fame dwindled away he swapped one addiction for another as he thrust himself into endurance races, with a row across the Atlantic and 10 consecutive Ironman races over 10 days.

But the distractions couldn't break the cycle and, at its worst, his addiction left him too anxious to leave the house.

Now three years sober, Pritchard said he has parted ways with his desire to "party forever" and he hopes to never turn back.

Alongside his Welsh co-stars, Lee Dainton and Mike "Pancho" Locke, as well as Englishman Dan Joyce, Dirty Sanchez ran from 2003 to 2007, airing in 64 countries to more than 400 million people.

What started out in Newport, the success of the show saw the foursome travel all over the world performing unhinged stunts, including dangerous acts such as stapling their body parts to snorting cigarette ash.

Speaking after closing hours inside his barber shop in one of Cardiff's arcades, Pritchard recalls the show with a beaming smile.

"I loved it, it was ace... it was where my head was at, I was young and just absolutely going mental.

"We cheated the system really. All four of us, we didn't have to have proper jobs. We got paid to travel the world with our mates, get drunk and do stupid things."

Mathew Pritchard said he was heading "six feet under" if his addiction continued

Living in a continuous cycle of getting "back on the horse", Pritchard recalled coming home from a Dirty Sanchez tour after enduring raucous back-to-back stunts each night, "looking like he had been in a car crash".

But he looks back at Dirty Sanchez with fond memories: "I do miss those times. But that stuff does eventually end and that's what your head goes.

"And I didn't deal with my emotions very well back then, clearly, because I drank them."

Despite his addiction, Pritchard says he has "no regrets" as he soaked up everything fame had to offer

'From not being loved to everyone loves me'

Prior to the Sanchez success, Pritchard was a professional skateboarder, but he remembered feeling like an "outcast", being regularly rejected from nightclubs.

"I went from not being loved, to suddenly everyone loves me," he admitted.

"The Sanchez buzz went for about 15 years, when that goes, all of a sudden people don't want to know you anymore, and that's the hard bit to take in.

"Mix that with the fame going, the TV shows going, the money, everything that comes with all that world, when all that starts dripping away, the drink and the drugs and the partying has a different meaning.

"And it's a sad meaning, really, because you're drowning your sorrows in a way."

In 2015, Pritchard apologised to Hollywood action star Dolph Lundgren after stripping naked and urinating over him on a flight from Amsterdam to the US.

Pritchard blacked out after mixing sedatives with "a lot of alcohol" and he went on to acknowledge that he needed to address his drinking problem.

"All of a sudden people don't want to know you anymore and that's the hard bit to take in," says Pritchard

Seeking a new sense of purpose, Pritchard started his fitness journey in 2011 when he switched to a vegan diet and completed his first Ironman - a race involving a 2.4-mile (3.8km) swim, 112-mile (180km) bike ride and a 26.2-mile (42.2 km) run.

"I've got a very addictive personality and when I get into something, and if I like it especially, I want to take it as far as I can take it," he said.

A double Ironman was followed by a triple before he discovered the decker - 10 Ironmen over 10 days.

He completed the challenge - a 25-mile (40 km) swim, 1,220-miles (1,963 km) on a bike and 262-mile (424.7 km) run around a one-mile lake, in 2019.

If that wasn't enough, when the opportunity arose to take his friend's spot to row the Atlantic in March 2021, Pritchard didn't hesitate.

He saw it as a "form of rehab" as "you've got no choice - you're stuck on a boat".

Starting in Lanzarote and ending in Antigua, Pritchard and his crewmates did rowing shifts of two hours on, two hours off, over the course of 52 days.

Even during the row, which was captured in a new documentary film Road of Excess, Pritchard had his sights on the celebration at the end.

Pritchard says he used sports endurance as a form of rehab but would always relapse

From the moment he got off the boat, Pritchard partied until the following morning, had a few hours sleep and "got back on it again".

"After all that hard work I was back to square one" he said, admitting he was taking various narcotics and, at his lowest, started taking heroin.

It resulted in what he described as a breakdown: "My anxiety was so bad, I couldn't leave the house at some point.

"I used to phone my girlfriend up and I couldn't speak, that's how bad it was."

The partying came to an end and Pritchard went cold turkey on 6 October 2022.

Pritchard thanked his fiancee Ciara Dunne for sticking by his side throughout it all

A large part of recovery is his support group, said Pritchard, and he thanks his fiancee Ciara Dunne for being at the centre of it.

"At one point she was going to leave me, but she didn't. She stayed around and she has been there by my side ever since. Fifteen years now.

"We used to be wild together us two. It's more pipe and slippers next to the fire with the dog these days," he laughed.

It was only after having therapy that Pritchard realised he had pressed the self destruct button, adding that fame also affected his Dirty Sanchez co-stars, with Dainton posting online about going sober and Joyce telling the Sun he suffered a heart attack.

"I did say I'd party forever... no chance that's happening," Pritchard said with a smile.

His life now could not be in starker contrast to his hedonistic youth - he has authored two vegan cookbooks and fronted the BBC series Dirty Vegan.

"I'm glad I messed up, I'm glad I went down that route, because it's taught me so much," he said.

"I wouldn't be the person I am today because, most probably, I would have been six foot under.

"Life is about ups and downs, and learning from those mistakes to become a better human being, not for you but for your loved ones.

"You can't have the perfect life. It would be pretty boring."

If you've been affected by addiction, details of help and support are available on the BBC Action Line website

Additional reporting by Greg Davies