Jeff Brazier says he will 'never stop trying' to save his son Freddy, 22, amid his battle with addiction as he breaks his silence on 'very tricky relationship' with grandmother Jackiey Budden

Jeff Brazier has spoken out for the first time about his son Freddy's battle with addiction as he said he will 'never stop trying' to save him from it. 

Freddy, 22, who is the son of the late Jade Goody, has had a difficult few years battling a cannabis addiction as well as severe mental health struggles, including psychosis. 

At 17 the TV personality was sectioned and has also undergone a stint in rehab and spent his 18th birthday in a psychiatric ward.

And breaking his silence on the toll it has taken on his family, Jeff admitted he 'couldn't do anything to stop it'. 

Appearing on Matt Willis's podcast On The Mend he 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.'

During Freddy's psychotic episodes, when his behaviour is out of control and not his own, Jeff said he would even go out searching the streets to try find him and bring him home as you don't know what could happen to him. 

In exclusive lines obtained by The Mirror he explained that despite being sectioned and undergoing rehab 'that still wasn't enough for that behaviour to change'.

He confessed: 'What else can I do but keep trying? I just keep trying. I'm never going to stop. I just always want to support him. It's what Jade would be absolutely insisting that I do.'

Jeff also touched on Freddy's difficult relationship with his maternal grandmother Jackiey Budden. 

The pair have had a tumultuous relationship and Jeff even attempted to launch a legal bid to keep his youngest son away from her.

Jeff feared Jackiey was a negative influence on him after it emerged that Freddy and Jackiey would smoke cannabis together and his son claimed she got him 'hooked' on the drug.

Reflecting on the 'very tricky relationship' with Jackiey, Jeff added: 'It's really difficult to protect your child from someone that they're related to, especially if they're the last surviving blood relative of the person that you've lost that you love the most.

'He's the ultimate people pleaser. To see your son suffer in that way and not be able to appeal to his better nature to stop that addiction cycle. But yet I couldn't do anything to stop it.

'I tried standing in front of the front door. I tried going to the police. Bear in mind that a lot of the time, and this doesn't seem to happen so much now, and I don't know whether it's a period around adolescence, but 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 behavior is not his own, and that's when he's he's just walking the streets, and you don't know what could happen to him. 

'And I've had to go looking for him on countless occasions and trying to bring him to safety only for him to then for him to flee the minute that you turn your back because he needs to be near the the things that he perceives himself to need.'

Jeff said Freddy's behaviour didn't change, despite interventions of being admitted to rehab and being sectioned. 

He said he wants his son to mature and he has tried every route possible to help Freddy.  

Jeff went on to talk about the terrible 'void' the family feel every day because of Jade's tragic death. 

Freddy sadly lost his mother when he was just four years old, after the Big Brother star died from cervical cancer on Mother's Day in 2009. 

Jeff said: 'I try to do as much as I can, but you can never replace. I didn't ever try and replace her. 

'And I think a lot of people maybe get it wrong when they say, "You've been mum and dad." I think that's I I feel disrespectful to Jade if I ever acknowledge that and said, "Yeah, thank you." Yeah, I have. I haven't. I was the dad. I could only play that role. 

'Her void is felt on a daily basis because our family is far from perfect. We've got a lot of challenges that we still face to this day.' 

Jeff said he believes the boys' loss of their mother is the 'root source' of the challenges Freddy has faced. 

The TV presenter said during the boys' childhood it was hard to draw the line between bad behaviour and grief. 

He said: 'What I found really difficult is you can't make two bereaved boys talk about their mum if they're not ready to and if they don't want to. And that's really difficult for  the surviving parent.

'But what if they don't want to talk? What if they don't want to go to therapy? Are you instantly feel like you're failing?

'And what that shouldn't then inform is that you double down on sort of almost being a little bit too insistent that they do things that they're not ready. 

' It's just the trickiest and the most undesirable sort of situation that you can find yourself in as a dad.'

Earlier this month Freddy also spoke out about his relationship with Jackiey as he said it has been 'tough' mentally after he previously revealed she got him 'hooked on weed'. 

Freddy explained that he believes that a lot of his mental health problems come from his nan and he wouldn't have had the same struggles without her influence. 

Yet Freddy insisted on taking full accountability for his actions as he said 'no one is to blame other than myself' and made the heartbreaking confession that: 'I was always going to be troubled and go down the wrong path.'

Speaking on The Terry Stone Connection podcast, Freddy said: 'The only real similarity with my nan is our heads. I think our heads and what goes on in our heads and the overthinking and the bad stuff.

'The more mental health stuff I think I'm similar to nan than in that way.'

Freddy also explained that he finds it hard when Jackiey compares him to Jade as he continued: 'When she says, "oh Freddy is Jade with a penis". I don't know whether to be hurt about it or to laugh. 

'But my mum was put through a lot and I think in the last 10 years where I've spent most time with my nan, as much as I tell myself it has been lovely and I love her and I do love her and I'd do anything for her, it's been tough and mentally I don't think I would be where I am now.'

He added: 'But then accountability I smoked before I really got into it with her and I could have continued with that group, then I don't know where I would have ended up.  

'So no one's to blame other than myself. I feel like I was always going to be troubled and be the brother that goes down the wrong path.

'I'm happy to see him [Bobby] doing well and smashing life and I know that I'll be there soon. I'm not putting too much pressure on myself.'

Since her death, Jeff has raised Freddy and his older brother Bobby, with Jackiey's support – but the pair have clashed multiple times over the years.

In recent years, Jeff has had a tricky relationship with his son Freddy, which is believed to be because of his bond with his grandmother, Jackiey.

Jeff tried to use complex court paperwork to prevent the aspiring model from seeing Jackiey 'to keep him safe', after it emerged that Freddy and Jackiey would smoke cannabis together at her flat.

Freddy sided with his grandmother, and Jeff latterly dropped the action.

In June 2025, Freddy and Jackiey were spotted smoking suspicious cigarettes after their recent reconciliation, despite his dad Jeff's war to block contact.

Freddy was seen puffing with his gran in front of tourists near Tower Bridge in south London.

Onlookers told The Sun: 'The pair were puffing away in the open, in full view of tourists passing by and there was an aromatic smell in the air. It didn't seem to be normal tobacco they were smoking.'

Meanwhile Jackiey said: 'As long as Freddy smokes with me he's safe. At least I know what he's smoking as it's nasty out there.'

Speaking on the A Load Of Old Cobblers podcast in August 2025, Freddy said while he didn't try drugs for the first time with his grandmother Jackiey she was 'definitely the person' who got him addicted.

'No it wasn't with my nan [the first time] although my nan is definitely the person who introduced me to reefer and got me hooked. It's one of those things, I was 12.'

He continued: 'I've been smoking since I was 12, I've been to rehab, I've been sectioned, I've had manic episodes, I've been sectioned. There's been a real journey and it's been a tough one.'

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article contact Mind on 0300 123 3393 or if you need help with addiction call FRANK 24 hours a day, seven days a week on 0300 123 6600.