Strictly Star John Whaite Opens Up About Steroid Addiction Struggles

Strictly star John Whaite has revealed he has been battling a steroid addiction that made him want to ‘end his life’ at the height of the problem.

The former Great British Bake Off contestant, 36, looked emotional as he detailed his strife to his followers in a raw Instagram video on Monday.

John revealed he began taking steroids during lockdown when he looked in the mirror and didn’t like what he saw and has been ‘disrespecting his body’ ever since.

John, who competed on the BBC show in 2021, said the side effects of the illegal drug have been devastating – including shrunken testicles and an irregular sex drive.

Opening up about his ordeal, John said: ‘Steroid addiction – the truth. For the past 5 years I’ve let myself down, I haven’t respected my body or my mind, I’ve put body image before my own wellbeing and before time with my family.

‘Steroids have made me want to end my life. That stops today. Right now.’

John continued: ‘That stops now. I choose life. I choose health. I choose love. I choose a simpler life.’

The former Great British Bake Off winner was seen breaking down in tears as he shared the effects of steroid abuse.

He said: ‘I first started taking them during lockdown because I looked in the mirror and I hated what I saw.

‘I tried working out, I tried dieting – I was really strict with my diet – but nothing changed, I couldn’t gain muscle.

‘Looking back, there was nothing wrong with me – I had a normal body.

‘The more that people acknowledged how I looked on steroids, the more I felt good about myself.

‘But the reality is, steroids have shrunk my b*******. I’ve got tiny balls now, I’ve got an irregular sex drive… Sometimes it’s very high and I end up doing stupid things and don’t respect my body.’

Away from his television appearances, John has been raking it in on X-rated platform OnlyFans and previously revealed how much he had been makng,

John, who soared to fame after he won the Bake Off back in 2012, rejoined the online platform after stating his 12 year TV career just ‘didn’t set him alight anymore’.

However it seems John has now done a U-turn on his decision as he announced earlier this week that he has decided to quit the adult site.

After 11 months John shared that he has pocketed a massive $270,000 (£199,147) but insisted he could have made  ‘quadruple’ if he had dedicated more time to the site.

But despite this, the Bake Off winner said he isn’t ‘money driven’ and would like to focus on his bakery instead.  

The former Strictly star was asked in a Q&A, ‘How much money did you make (ball park) for someone who’s thinking if it’s worth it’.

He replied: ‘This is a tricky question isn’t it, because I don’t like speaking about personal wealth and income but it is an elephant in the room as some people think I’ve made millions on OnlyFans and others think I made nothing.’

He continued: ‘The truth honestly in 11 months I took home $270,000, so it can be a very lucrative platform if I had spent more time on that and more of my time solely to OnlyFans, I probably could have double, tripled, quadrupled that. 

‘It’s not just about making content, it’s about marketing and catching peoples eyes and giving them a reason to subscribe. 

‘I have a lot of respect for those who are on and successful on OnlyFans. But for me I’m not money driven like that. I find much more fulfillment with working at people at the Ruff Puff bakehouse.’

He added: ‘I’ll miss chatting to people and the creativity of it but what I won’t miss feeling like I have to be muscular and I want to feel like I can get a bit fatter here and there and it wasn’t healthy being obsessed with my body image.’

The baker has decided to focus on his brownie business Ruff Puff Brownies and Ruff Puff Bakehouse and get back to a ‘talent I’d neglected’.

Back in March John accused Waitrose of ‘removing his recipes from its website’ just weeks after he rejoined OnlyFans. 

The star had his own recipes on the supermarket’s website with a bio that read: ‘John is a chef, broadcaster and author who won The Great British Bake Off in 2012. 

‘His books include Perfect Plates in 5 Ingredients and A Flash in the Pan.’

But when fans tried to click on John’s profile it diverted them to the ‘Guest Recipes’ landing page – featuring recipes from eight other chefs instead of his own.

John told his Instagram followers: ‘It seems Waitrose have diverted all my recipe links to similar recipes by other people – my work history with them ostensibly expunged.

‘My catalogue of YouTube videos with them has also disappeared. It’s like I never existed.

‘No one at Waitrose informed me or told me why… I can only guess that it’s because I do OnlyFans.

‘So I’m sorry if you wanted to use one of my recipes and now cannot.

‘Look, I get my OF work doesn’t align with their brand, and I would have accepted that had they treated me with an ounce of human respect, but to wipe out an entire collection of very hard work without any notice or chance to save the recipes first is an insult.’

A Waitrose spokesperson previously told The Sun: ‘We regularly review recipes on our site and we are constantly updating and refreshing. We are very grateful for the work John has done for us.’

Daily Mail contacted Waitrose for comment at the time.