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John Lydon has revealed how he turned to alcohol after his wife Nora’s death.
Nora died in April at the age of 80 after battling Alzheimer’s for several years.
John, 67, became her full-time carer, saying earlier this year that she had required 24/7 attention.
He’s now opened up about the impact her death has had in a new interview.
Appearing on Tuesday’s Good Morning Britain with Susanna Reid and Ed Balls, John spoke about finding solace in alcohnol.
Susanna asked him: ‘For the first three months after she left this life, you basically found solace in a bottle didn’t you?’
‘Tried to,’ John replied.
John’s wife Nora died aged 80 (Picture: Noam Galai/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival)
The musician, known as Johnny Rotten, opened up about his grief (Picture: S Meddle/ITV/Shutterstock)
‘But it didn’t really work, all it did was make me put on weight. I never got drunk, I thought that was stupid so I stopped.
‘But the trouble is, it’s not just the brandy. It’s the instant microwave meals that go with it.
‘You just wreck yourself.’
He added that ‘the only way’ he knows how to get fit is to get back on stage, which he now plans to with his band Public Image Ltd.
John elsewhere spoke about how Nora died ‘happy’ and he was relieved she was out of her misery.
‘You just wreck yourself.’ (Picture: Dave Hogan/Getty Images)
The musician, known as Johnny Rotten, shared: ‘You endure, she died laughing up to the last day, that was obviously tragically different for her.
‘She died happy, she knew I loved her and that’s all that really matters.’
He went on: ‘It seems a bizarre thing to say, but it’s almost a relief that she was put out of her misery.’
‘I loved every minute of it,’ he added, speaking about the five years he spent caring for her.
‘I got attached to her in whole new different ways and learnt so much about her.’
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV1.
What is early-onset Alzheimer’s disease?
Early-onset Alzheimer’s is also known as young-onset dementia or younger-onset Alzheimer’s. It is the label given to anyone who receives a diagnosis before they turn 65.
According to Alzheimer’s Research UK, an estimated 70,800 people with dementia in the UK have young onset, and Alzheimer’s disease accounts for around one in three cases of young onset dementia.
It is thought at least five in every 100 people with Alzheimer’s are under 65, however the figure may be higher.
According to the NHS, the symptoms of Alzheimer’s can begin with usually minor memory problems, but can develop into:
confusion, disorientation and getting lost in familiar places
difficulty planning or making decisions
problems with speech and language
problems moving around without assistance or performing self-care tasks
personality changes, such as becoming aggressive, demanding and suspicious of others
hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not there) and delusions (believing things that are untrue)
low mood or anxiety
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‘You just wreck yourself.’