Bradley Wiggins’ ex-wife found him after medication binge in ‘do or die second’
Great British cycling legend Bradley Wiggins’ ex-wife discovered him in a London hotel room after a drugs binge in a ‘do or die moment’ before urging him to go to rehab
Bradley Wiggins’ ex-wife Cath found him in a worrying state after a drugs binge(Image: Getty Images)
Sir Bradley Wiggins’ ex-wife Cath recalled the harrowing moment she found the Olympic legend in a ‘do or die moment’ after a drugs binge.
The 2012 Tour de France winner and five-time Olympic gold medallist has sadly found his life turned upside down since retiring from professional cycling as he spiralled into a cocaine addiction that laid waste to his family life and finances.
Wiggins, 45, has been open about his mental health battles before he declared bankruptcy in June 2024. The Team GB hero was helped by his estranged wife Cath and their children Ben and Isabella as his life started to fall apart.
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Bradley recalled how he phoned his son begging for help and that Ben and Cath went to London and ‘essentially staged an intervention’ during one of his drug binges in 2023. “Between them, they helped me get back on my feet,” he wrote. “They gave me a reason to live.”
Cath explained to the Daily Mail how she dropped everything to help Wiggins after Ben told her he had received calls from friends telling him they were worried about his dad. When she arrived at her estranged husband’s London hotel room she found a room strewn with drugs.
She said: “At that point it wasn’t about who was right or wrong, or about divorce. It was just about making sure he was OK.
“There was so much paraphernalia everywhere. He could have died. But thank God he was still there.”
Cath revealed that Wiggins was conscious but ‘in a state’. “By then I was not easily shocked but it was very hard to see,” she says.
“With just one look at him, I knew it was a do or die moment, that if he carried on like this he would be leaving the room in a body bag. I told him that we needed to get help or there was going to be a catastrophe.
“I was torn in two – he’s on his own in a London hotel, my kids are at home in Lancashire. I felt I had to go back and sort the kids out, but then I returned first thing the next morning. I left him a note [while he slept] saying ‘try and make a good choice’.”
Cath pushed hard against Wiggins’ refusal to attend rehab while Ben and Bella stayed with him for a few days, something she insists saved his life.
“I stayed another day and in the end I arranged a short term rental for him in London, as well as sorting out gym classes and meal delivery to give him some structure. Before I left, I made him promise that he would sort his life out.
“I always think that whatever else I did in life, I did that. He didn’t manage to completely kick the drugs then, but I think he saw some light for the first time.”
It wasn’t until last year that Wiggins attended rehab paid for by his friend, disgraced American cyclist Lance Armstrong.
