Best's ex-wife reveals Gazza fears

My Account
Logout

Create an Evening Standard Account

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Welcome! Sign in here

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Forgot your password ?

Registration

* indicates fields that are mandatory

Email *

Password *

Confirm Password *

First name *

Surname *

Postcode *

Country *

Mobile phone number

Username *

Gender *

Year of birth *

When you sign up...

You will have access to all our online competitions, discounted offers and can post comments on our site.

You will also receive The Weekender newsletter sent every Thursday - it’s full of fantastic offers and ideas for the weekend. You can update your email preferences in your account page when you log in.

Other newsletters and emails

Homes & Property Newsletter - Yes I want to receive the weekly email with all the latest news on property in the capital

Occasionally we would also like to send you relevant emails detailing specific offers either from ourselves or carefully selected partners. If you would prefer not to receive these then please tick the appropriate boxes below. We will never pass on your details.

I do not want to receive additional offers and information from the Evening Standard

I do not want to receive additional offers and information sent by Evening Standard on behalf of carefully selected partners

Terms and Conditions

* I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Evening Standard

Registration

Mail Sent for Registration Confirmation.

A confirmation email has been sent. Please activate your account by clicking on the activation link sent in your mail box.

Alex Best, speaking on GMTV, said fans would flock to pubs where her ex-husband had been seen. She said: "People used to come for miles to watch him drink, it was a kind of circus."

The model said well-meaning fans would buy the troubled star drinks without realising they were adding to his problems.

She said: "It's terrible to watch your loved ones go through this but at the same time, what can you do? Alcoholics are the most lovely, lovely people and it's terrible when you see the lovely side of them but also the terrible side and you just try and help them."

She said friends and family became "the enemy" to Best, because they were trying to stop him drinking. And she said of Gascoigne: "Everyone's got to support him, everyone's got to rally round him because he can't do it himself."

Gascoigne, 41, was released from hospital on Monday after being sectioned under the Mental Health Act for the second time this year. Later that day police were called to a hairdresser on Kensington Church Street, west London, because he was "feeling unwell". He then voluntarily went to hospital.

Gascoigne was previously sectioned in February after an incident at a Tyneside hotel.

On Tuesday night the troubled ex-footballer's sister Anna said she fears for her brother's life.

Miss Gascoigne said the ex-England player needs professional help and complained that hospitals are only able to treat him as a "drunk person" rather than dealing with the "very dangerous" combination of depression and addiction.

"He's been drinking, I believe, to escape, to get away and it's been a vicious circle," she told ITV News.