Team GB Olympics star battled porn dependancy and despatched ‘nudes’ to strangers
Former Team GB Olympic diver and Commonwealth medal winner Freddie Woodward has revealed he would visit X-rated sites up to ten times a day
Freddie Woodward competed at Rio 2016(Image: Getty Images)
A Team GB Olympian has admitted sending nude photos to strangers online for “a thrill” while battling a’ pornography addiction.
Elite diver Freddie Woodward, who competed in the 3m Springboard event at Rio in 2016 and won bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, says that at its worst he would visit X-rated sites ten times a day.
In an interview with the BBC, the 31-year-old from Sheffield admitted his porn addiction had started when he was young, and that by the age of 12 he was regularly visiting “hardcore” websites.
Freddie Woodward won a Commonwealth Bronze in 2014(Image: Getty Images)
Freddie explained: “I’m the first generation to have had access to high-speed internet porn,” he said.
“I realised I had a problem when it came to homework and exams, like GCSEs and A Levels. Every time I sat down to revise, all I wanted to do was open those sites.”
As he grew older and his career progressed, so did his use of adult sites. Eventually, the diver explained that porn became a crutch when training was hard, that “If I’d had a bad training session, it was always the thing I could turn to.”
Woodward represented Great Britain at the 2016 Olympics(Image: Getty Images)
Eventually, the addiction pushed Freddie to more and more risky online behaviour, including sending nude photos and videos to strangers online in order to feel “more of a thrill”.
He told the BBC: “I was doing something clearly irresponsible, but I didn’t care.”
Eventually, some of the content he sent resurfaced online, and was seen by Freddie’s then girlfriend, who left him shortly afterwards.
The Olympian is now entered into a new relationship(Image: Getty Images)
The Olympian said that despite feeling embarrassed, he still wasn’t able to kick the habit.
He explained: “I was so embarrassed and crushed. I just didn’t know how to deal with it. The worst part was, I still couldn’t quit porn. I couldn’t stop.”
Freddie says that, after six more years battling the addiction, he has finally been able to kick it for good.
The now retired diver is also in a new relationship with Chika Izumi, a fellow ex-Olympian and former Japanese artistic swimmer.
She told the BBC that Freddie opened up about his former troubles after a couple months of dating.
She explained: “I was like, ‘OK, I guess there’s a problem,’ but I didn’t go against it. I was just neutral about it.”
“I know he’s going to help so many boys and men. I can’t believe how brave he is to talk to the world.”
