As troubled Paul Gascoigne begins a long struggle to tackle his mental health problems, ex-wife Sheryl has stepped in to give him some much-need support.

The alcoholic former footballer has been sectioned for six months after friends and family feared he would kill himself.

Now the wife Gascoigne used to beat in alcohol-fuelled rages has rushed to be by his side.

He was taken to an unnamed hospital on Tuesday afternoon after checking himself into the Priory clinic for the third time in as many weeks.

The troubled star was seen walking arm-in-arm with his ex-wife in the gardens of the rehab clinic.

Troubled Gazza's ex-wife Sheryl has rushed to his side

Gascoigne's own specialists persuaded him on Tuesday that it was in his best interests to be detained in a bid to give doctors time to help him overcome his problems.

That night Sheryl travelled from her home to The Priory to comfort him.

It now means that he cannot voluntarily discharge himself from any treatment programme until he is given permission to do so.

The couple married in 1996 but divorced in 1998 after she revealed he would regularly attack her.

His devastated sister, Anna Gascoigne, said yesterday: 'He's been drinking, I believe, to escape, to get away and it's been a vicious circle.

'I have feared for his life, especially I would say the last couple of weeks.

'It had literally gotten to the point where I was having to be with him constantly, to the point where I was taking him to hospital because I believed that he needed help.'

She said he now needed professional help.

Gascoigne, 42, was first sectioned in February when police were called to the Hilton Hotel in Newcastle after he allegedly threatened staff.

He was treated at a hospital for two weeks but later discharged.

On Sunday he was detained under the Mental Health Act once again after banging on his former wife's front door in Hemel Hempstead demanding alcohol.

But after an overnight stay he was discharged before reappearing at the Café Rouge restaurant in Kensington where he ordered a bottle of wine.

He then phoned his sister Anne who asked to speak to a waiter and begged him to call police on her brother's behalf.

As Gascoigne began receiving treatment yesterday his former England and Tottenham coach, Terry Venables, spoke of the moment the troubled star told him he wanted to kill himself.

He said he had gone to see Gascoigne at a police station in Kensington, west London, after receiving a phone call from worried officers who had picked him up earlier that day.

Paul Gascoigne was taken to hospital strapped to a wheelchair after collapsing at a London train station on Saturday

'I took a cab to the police station and was quickly shown to a room where I immediately saw Gazza, head slumped down, smoking a fag,' he said.

'I started talking but there was little response. I don't think he really registered I was in the room.

'Then I went round to see him face-to-face and a light switched on. Someone had to persuade Paul he needed treatment, so I decided to lay it on the line.

'I told him this was no longer about going out and getting p***** with the lads. He was now in a condition where he was in serious danger of killing himself or someone else.

'The conversation had brought him round and, surprisingly, he asked the policeman in the room to leave us alone for a second.

'As the door closed Gazza looked straight back at me. I felt he was sober at that moment. His stare was quite chilling really and that's when he frightened the life out of me.

'He simply said: 'I want to kill myself'. I immediately told him I wouldn't stand by and let that happen - and I won't, which is why I'm telling this now.'

In a heartfelt plea he added: 'Paul, if you read this, then take it as a wake-up call. You know me well enough to know this is from the heart and not something I ever dreamed I'd have to do or say.

'I remember a Paul Gascoigne who lit up the country with his football genius and personality. I want that Paul Gascoigne back.'

His former captain at Tottenham, Gary Mabbutt, said Gazza needed to be detained for his own safety - even if it is against his will.

'What people have to realise is that Paul is not a celebrity drunk,' he said. 'He is suffering from some very serious illnesses which mean he has no way of realising his condition is anywhere near as grave as it is.

'Over the last months Paul has gone through detox numerous times. But he begins to feel better and discharges himself. Once he discharges himself from the treatment programmes he relapses very quickly.

'It is incredibly sad but he needs to be sectioned so he can be kept for long enough for the doctors to really get to grips with his problems.'