Vinnie Jones Opens Up About Suicidal Struggles

Vinnie Jones has recalled having suicidal thoughts after his 1995 assault on journalist Ted Oliver.

The incident happened in a Dublin hotel following an abandoned England-Ireland football match. 

The footballer suddenly grabbed Daily Mirror journalist Ted Oliver, put him in a headlock, and clammed his teeth around the reporter's nose.

He explained to the shocked newspaperman: 'I only do that to people I like.'

The renowned journalist then requested a photographer and splashed the story on the front page the following morning. Vinnie was also reported to the FA.

Now, in an upcoming  documentary titled Untold UK: Vinnie Jones, the former footballer, 61, opened up on the notorious incident which happened during the height of his  and mental health battle.

At the time, Vinnie was also working as a columnist for News Of The World, which Piers Morgan was the editor of.

Piers had sent Vinnie over to Ireland to report on the 1995 match between England and the Republic of Ireland.

Following a party before the game, Vinnie thought he could report on the match from just watching it in the bar.

However, due to a riot caused by Combat 18, the game was abandoned.

'I mean when's the last time an international game gets abandoned? How's my luck?,' Vinnie said.

'I'm having a beer in the hotel. Before you know it, now... You're pretty p****d up.

'And I'll be totally honest, I don't really know what was said or what happened because of the booze.

 'And then the next minute, I was front page, not the abandoned game.'

'F***! What have you done, ' he added.

 Vinnie defend his actions, claiming that the bite was a 'prank that went wrong'.

However, when he asked Ted not to publish the story, he firmly replied: 'You should have thought about all that.'

Oliver wrote a detailed, front-page exposé and documented Vinnie's other erratic behavior from that night.

This included throwing toast at Gary Lineker, pouring orange juice on another reporter, and disputing a hotel bill.

Sharing his version of events, Piers said: 'He got very drunk. and he got into a fracas, it was described to me, with a guy called Ted Oliver. And he bit half his nose off.'

Despite remaining strong in front of the public, Vinnie was suffering with his mental health from the fallout.

Speaking on his behaviour, former Wimbledon Bobby Gould said: 'I could tell that this is not right. 

'The way he was talking and the way he was behaving. The alcohol was doing something way out of order.

'You know, it affected him much deeper, this one.'

Vinnie explained that it was not the culture at the time to get somebody to give you help.

'So I go back to the booze again,' he added.

Due to the public backlash from the incident, Piers ultimately had to sack Vinnie due to his actions, despite him releasing a mea culpa.

'I didn't want to fire him. I loved Vinnie. Personally, I loved him. Professionally, he was a brilliant columnist. But I underestimated just how much it got to him,' Piers said. 

Vinnie then found himself in a mentally venerable position. 

He explained: 'I was on the bed and was just curled up in the, you know, in like, the baby position. I was just curled up like that. And I was like... Enough.

'Can't keep doing this to people. Can't do it to the family. So, I thought I'd go for a walk up the wood. 

'I took the gun. Walked up the wood, and then... All stupid things go through your head.

'And the easiest thing to do was just stop it right there and then. That would have been it.

'And then I sort of came round. It's like being knocked out, I suppose, like in a boxing ring, and you come round and there's all the screaming, the shout, and it's all muffled and everything else, slow motion.

'And it just goes... [whooshes]. And you're kind of back and you go, 'Right, f*** this.''

After ditching his football career in 1999, he reinvented himself for a life in Hollywood, swapping using his trademark aggression on the pitch to play bad guys and thugs on the silver screen.

In 2013, Vinnie decided to ditch the booze and opted for a sober life. 

His decision came after he was pictured kissing Russian singer Lama Safonova outside a Moscow bar.

The incident led to him issuing a public apology to his now late wife Tanya and revealing he had entered therapy.

In his 2013 autobiography, It's Been Emotional, Vinnie wrote: 'That incident caused the biggest test of my 20 years of marriage. We've been through everything and this angel is still there for me through thick and thin...

'I had risked everything that mattered to me over a stupid night out in Russia...

'That is the lowest I've seen Tans in all the time we have been together... Now I know we have a lot of work still to do, but we both love each other more than anything on the planet and that is getting us through...

'That is why, for the first time in my life, I have started seeing a psychologist. I have virtually given up drinking alcohol... I've been going to see (my psychologist) once a week for eight months. For an alcoholic to combat problems, he or she has to admit to those problems first.'

Untold UK: Vinnie Jones will be released on Netflix on Tuesday, May 26.

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123, visit a local Samaritans branch or go to www.samaritans.org.