Jeff Brazier has revealed he contacted the police in a bid to help his son Freddy with his substance abuse issues.
The TV presenter, 47, said his son, 22, goes “into a form of psychosis” when he uses drugs and he has had to go out searching for him on several occasions.
Speaking on Matt Willis’ On The Mend podcast, Jeff said: “To see your son suffer in that way and not be able to appeal to his better nature to stop that addiction cycle…
“I couldn’t do anything to stop it. And I tried standing in front of the front door, I tried going to the police.
The TV presenter, 47, said his son, 22, goes “into a form of psychosis” when he uses drugs and he has had to go out searching for him on several occasions (Alamy/PA)
“For six years, the thing that’s been hardest, the most challenging, is that he would go into a form of psychosis when he used.
“That’s when his behaviour is not his own, that’s when he’s just walking the streets and you don’t know what could happen to him.
“I’ve had to go looking for him on countless occasions and trying to bring him to safety, only for him to then flee the minute you turn your back.”
Jeff said Freddy has been to rehab and has been sectioned but it “wasn’t enough for that behaviour to change”.
He added: “What I’m relying on now, because I don’t control it, is I’m relying on Fred to mature to the point where, and I hear him talking about it and I hear him understanding it more.
Jeff had Freddy (right) and his older son Bobby, 23, (left) with Big Brother star Jade Goody (centre), who died in 2009 from cervical cancer (Yui Mok/PA)
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“I’ve tried to provide every route that would lead him out of it and always try and be that voice of reason that encourages him to try this and try that. It hasn’t quite transpired that he’s ready.
“What I learned a while ago is that it’s got to be his call and when he’s ready and only then really will you ever see him climb out of the cycle.”
Jeff and Freddy took part on Celebrity Race Across The World together in 2024, with the 22-year-old admitting on the Terry Stone Connection podcast that he purchased weed while filming in Brazil.
Willis noted that, during Freddy’s appearance on the show, he said of his father: “At times when I’ve pushed away, he’s pulled me back even harder to bring me back in.”
In response, Jeff said: “He’s a smart kid, he does know, he just doesn’t seem to have the control. There’s always a glimmer. He knows what will help.
Jeff said: ‘I just keep trying. I’m never going to stop’ (Yui Mok/PA)
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“I’ve always seen acknowledgement from Fred. He understands a lot of what’s going on, why it’s happening, how his choices have maybe led to certain outcomes.
“Sometimes the guard goes up and there’s a lack of accountability, which can frustrate in the karma moments.
“That acknowledgement and those words, what else can I do but keep trying? I just keep trying.
“I’m never going to stop. I always want to support him.
“It’s what Jade would be absolutely insisting that I do. I’m trying to be the dad to the boys that I guess I didn’t have the experience of.”
Freddy reportedly began smoking at the age of 12 and has struggled with his mental health over the years, including going to rehab and experiencing manic episodes.
A representative of Freddy Brazier has been contacted for comment.