Brad Pitt: I was boozing too much and let my marriage slip away

US actor Brad Pitt has admitted he was "boozing too much" in the months before he split from Angelina Jolie and let his marriage slip away.

The Hollywood star also said he slept on the floor of a friend's bungalow for six weeks after his wife of two-years filed for divorce - because he could not bear to be in the family home.

In his first interview since the separation, he told GQ Style: "I can't remember a day since I got out of college when I wasn't boozing or had a spliff, or something... I mean, I stopped everything except boozing when I started my family.

"But even this last year, you know - things I wasn't dealing with. I was boozing too much. It's just become a problem.

"And I'm really happy, it's been half a year now, which is bittersweet, but I've got my feelings in my fingertips again."

He added: "I enjoy wine very, very much, but I just ran it to the ground. I had to step away for a minute. And truthfully I could drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka. I was a professional. I was good."

Pitt, who has six children with Jolie, said he had "hit the lottery" but let it go to waste "on hollow pursuits".

He told the magazine: "I just started therapy. I love it, I love it. I went through two therapists to get to the right one."

He added: "For me this period has really been about looking at my weaknesses and failures and owning my side of the street.

"And this is coming from a guy who hit the lottery, I'm well aware of that. I hit the lottery, and I still would waste my time on those hollow pursuits."

When asked if the split was like grieving a death, Pitt replied: "Yeah", before saying it has made him want to be a better father.

He said: "It's hit me smack in the face with our divorce: I gotta be more. I gotta be more for them. I have to show them. And I haven't been great at it."