Geordie Shore's Vicky Pattison discusses 'complicated' relationship with alcohol and dad's addiction

Reality TV star Vicky Pattison has said there needs to be "more candour and less judgement" about the stigma of alcoholism after sharing details of her life growing up with a father who struggled with the disease.

The 35-year-old, who is a patron of the charity The National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACOA), delivered a speech in Parliament today in support of of a campaign highlighting the effects of alcoholism on families.

The I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! winner was announced as patron of the charity last week after opening up about her own experience as a child of an alcoholic.

In her speech Vicky touched upon the documentary she made last year exploring her experience growing up.

She said: "It was probably simultaneously one of the most challenging but also one of the most cathartic things I've ever done.

"Far more difficult than eating kangaroo testicles in the jungle that's for sure. 

"The documentary takes an in depth look at my dad's addiction, our relationship and my own very complicated relationship with alcohol.

"It helped me understand so much about his disease, it helped me understand him."

She added: "Since making this documentary, so many people have come forward saying they're super grateful that I made it, that they themselves had experienced a similar upbringing and even people saying that it forced them to look at the way they drink.

"I'm just so proud that we made something that helped people feel seen and heard, and not so alone. Because that's how you feel as the child of an alcoholic. You feel alone. 

"For years, my family kept my dad's illness a secret- I learnt from a very young age that we weren't to talk about what was happening inside our home with anyone else.

"I didn't have to be told specifically it was just something I knew instinctively- maybe I just followed my mam's lead- but whatever it was- I knew it was our secret and people wouldn't understand if they knew. 

"But that's the problem, people are never going to understand this illness if we keep hiding it away and expecting it to rest solely on the shoulders of the children and the grieving families dealing with it.

"The only way to break down the stigma of addiction and alcoholism is by giving it more sunlight, more candour and less judgement.

"I spent so many years not understanding my dad's illness- going through this horrendous cycle of being mad at him, feeling guilty, feeling like I was somehow to blame, feeling devastated that my dad just didn't love me enough to stop drinking.

"I just wish that when I was growing up there had been someone like NACAO for me to speak to. I probably could have saved myself a lot of heartache and a lot of pain."

Ms Pattison spoke alongside Jonathan Ashworth MP for Leicester South, also speaking about his own experience with an alcoholic parent.

She explained that children of alcoholics are: 

• Six times more likely to witness domestic violence

• Five times more likely to develop an eating problem

• Three times more likely to consider suicide

• Twice as likely to experience difficulties at school

• Twice as likely to develop alcoholism or addiction

• Twice as likely to be in trouble with the police

Vicky’s father John struggled with alcoholism when she was growing up.

John's relationship with alcohol deteriorated after he retired from the civil service when he was drinking spirits every morning.

This lead to him eventually being hospitalised with cirrhosis of the liver.

Following her speech, Vicky said: "It's very important, if anybody has a platform, to use it for something.

"I feel super honoured to be affiliated with people who are really campaigning for change and I'm going to do so in any way I can."

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