Conor Cooper, 33, alleges that he became addicted to cocaine after trying it near the contestants’ hotel during the filming period for the ITV show
A Deal Or No Deal contestant has claimed that he got hooked on cocaine while filming the popular daytime ITV game show. Conor Cooper says he had never even tried the Class A drug before reportedly taking it at a party near the contestants’ hotel. He claims he quickly became hooked, spending £600-a-week on it.
The father-of-one said he discovered what he described as “a huge pile” of cocaine on a table at the party. After becoming drunk on cocktails and shots, he told The Sun that could not sleep after trying the drug, meaning he was exhausted for filming the next day.
Conor explained: “I’d never done that stuff before. I’m ashamed. I got caught up in the moment.
“It was like I was being given a taste of what the showbiz life was like. I was out of my comfort zone and living in the moment being on telly for the first time.”
Contestants taking part in the ITV quiz are required to stay at a hotel from Monday to Friday each week during the filming process.
Conor claimed: “It was a wild party and I’d been drinking. By the time I got back to the hotel, it was seven in the morning and we were picked up to film in the studio at 8am.
“I was dreading that show going out. I was still completely wired when we filmed and we recorded three games that day.”
Following the party, Conor said that he started craving the substance more and more, and would spend as much as £600 a week on cocaine, snorting it most evenings.
He said:“I hold my hands up that I should never have started buying it. But the party culture there meant that we would all start having drinks and the next thing I would be secretly ordering it to keep myself going.”
Conor won £13,500 on the show before returning to his day job as a tarmac worker in Portsmouth.
A month later, he found out his partner of 17 years was expecting twins, explaining that the exciting news pushed him to seek help to kick the nasty habit.
He told The Sun: “Thankfully it didn’t go on long before we found out we were expecting and that was the wake-up call I needed.
“I told my partner, and she was mortified. I felt I’d let her down.”
He later attended a group drug counselling session.
Conor said that he did not seek any help from ITV at the time because he “wasn’t sure who to trust”, but revealed that he did attend group drug counselling.
In response to the Sun Interview, a Deal Or No Deal spokesperson said: “We have a zero-tolerance policy on drug use on all our productions.
“Contestants stay at the hotel for short periods of time whilst filming and are closely monitored by a specialist welfare team throughout.
“Having reviewed logs of activity and welfare assessments, we can find no record of any behaviour that would cause concern.”
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