Pete Doherty admitted that he was ‘healthier when he was on heroin’ before struggles with his diet led him to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
The Libertines singer, 45, was diagnosed with the chronic disease last year, and revealed on Tuesday that he’s been warned by doctors he’s at risk of having his toes amputated.
In an interview with The Guardian’s Saturday Magazine last year, Pete, who has battled drug addiction in the past, joked that he is a ‘glutton,’ meaning he tends to eat a lot.
He said: ‘Then you get told alcohol and cheese and sugar are just as bad and you were healthier when you were on heroin.’
‘It’s not a joke, I’ve been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. And at the moment I’m lacking the discipline to tackle cholesterol.’
During the last five dates of his European Tour, Pete has been forced to perform from a chair, and revealed doctors have warned him he is at risk of having his toes amputated amid his fight with Type 2 diabetes.
Pete Doherty admitted that he was ‘healthier when he was on heroin’ before struggles with his diet led him to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes
The Libertines singer had a well-publicised battle with drug addiction (pictured in 2008), and was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes last year
In a video obtained by The Sun at his gig in Munich, Germany, Pete provided his fans with a health update.
He said: ‘I saw the doctor today and he said you need to stay off your feet as much as you can otherwise you’ll lose your toes.’
Those with type 2 diabetes are at higher risk for many related health problems, including foot or leg amputation.
Last spring, Pete confirmed his diagnosis, saying: ‘I’ve been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. And at the moment, I’m lacking the discipline to tackle cholesterol.’
It seems Pete has worked on his lack of discipline after receiving some harsh words from his doctor.
The star previously told the Evening Standard that his doctor had told him he had to change his diet immediately.
He told the publication: ‘I have seen a liver doctor who says I need to change my diet – too much cheese, too much milk.
‘But the cheese is so good, that’s part of the reason I stay here… It’s a cholesterol and diabetes thing now, but there are tablets, it makes a big difference.’
In an interview with The Guardian’s Saturday Magazine last year, Pete, who has battled drug addiction in the past, joked that he is a ‘glutton,’ meaning he tends to eat a lot
During the last five dates of his European Tour, Pete has been forced to perform from a chair, and revealed doctors have warned him he is at risk of having his toes amputated
The rocker has previously admitted that his larger figure is the result of tucking into his guilty pleasure.
In 2021, Pete said he had ditched drugs and was instead indulging on cheese on toast and enjoying long lie ins after staying up for six days straight during his wildest years.
He told The Sun about his new lifestyle: ‘I like Comté [a type of French cheese], Comté on toast. My guilty pleasure is sleeping.
‘For years and years, I would stay up for five or six days and then I would sleep for 24 hours, so now I love sleep. At the moment I’m quite clean. I stopped taking heroin and ketamine.’
He added: ‘I like experimenting, making cocktails with champagne, a bit of rum, orange juice, I’m coming across like a bit of an alcoholic, but I’m not — I like a nice glass of water.’
And Pete’s new look is a far cry from his former self where, in 2021, he was spotted munching on a wedge of cheese as he went for a stroll.
Pete relocated to France with his wife Katia de Vidas and his little girl Billie-May several years ago and it seemed Pete was enjoying the change of pace.
He was spotted walking his dog, sporting a grey mop of hair and a fuller physique and clutching a wedge of cheese and enjoying it as a snack.
Pete previously told documentary-maker Louis Theroux he was ‘a very sick man’ in his Louis Theroux Interviews series.
Due to his former lifestyle, the musician admitted he doesn’t see himself living long and said that he thinks ‘death is lurking’.
He has been off hard drugs for three years, but said he still drinks and was seen swigging rum and chain smoking in the Theroux interview.
As well as hitting screens with the legendary documentary maker, he is also the subject of a film focused around his demons, which hit cinemas last year.
Peter Doherty: Stranger In My Own Skin shows the extent of his horrific drug addiction, his pained performances at the height of his illness and also contains film of him with his friend and lover Amy Winehouse.
The documentary was shot by his wife Katia de Vidas over a decade, and in upsetting scenes he is seen smoking drugs and writhing in the aftermath.
He is also shown tying a tourniquet around his arm just before injecting heroin, before scenes shoot to him shouting at a crowd of adoring fans: ‘On the one hand, thank you, on the other hand… f**k you’.
Speaking in the film, he says: ‘Hard drugs entered my life and slowly, slowly, and then very quickly, took control.’
He took heroin for the first time in 2002 when he was just 23, yet the addiction didn’t fully take hold until he found himself sweating and sick after a journey to Japan.
