Former footy star Matthew Ridge has opened up about how going starring on a reality TV show Treasure helped save him from a methamphetamine addiction that started because the drug 'went to the sexual side of my brain'.
The 56-year-old enjoyed a distinguished career in rugby union and rugby league, winning the 1996 premiership with Manly before going on to captain the Auckland Warriors and the New Zealand national team.
He would retire in 1999 as New Zealand's all-time top scorer, returning 168 points across 25 Test matches.
A career in broadcasting would follow for Ridge, who became a regular face on TVNZ, notably presenting the show Game of Two Halves alongside co-host Marc Ellis.
Speaking on the Between Two Beers Podcast, Ridge delivered an open and honest revelation about why he first started taking meth.
He said: 'It's amazing what a broken heart can do.
'It throws you off. When you have a broken heart you throw yourself into anything that makes you forget about where you're coming from.'
He revealed that he first took the drug during a trip to Japan.
'I got hooked. I didn't get hooked on the high, I got hooked on the fact that it went to the sexual side of my brain,' he said.
'I was doing television, I was going to work, I was a functioning drug addict.
Matthew Ridge (pictured recently) has opened up on how he became addicted to methamphetamine while he was suffering from a 'broken heart'
Ridge (second from right) said that going on a reality TV show and his BMX helped him get off the deadly drug
'I'd get up in the morning, go to work, have meetings and all of that s***, but then I'd just jump on my bike and ride. And that's what saved me was the riding, because I just got so fit.'
Ridge also said he was able to stop taking the drug fairly quickly but opened up on the daunting moment he realised he needed to make a change.
'So I just stopped, because I can stop like that. I don't have an addictive personality,' he said.
He was approached by a New Zealand television producer star go on the reality show Treasure Island.
He would spend seven weeks shooting for the program, during which time he did not take any drugs.
'They showed me a still [picture] of myself just on the island and I had no light in my eyes. I looked like I was dead. Like see how your eyes are sparkling my eyes are sparkling, you're alive,' he said.
'That's where I just looked at it and I was like, oh my god.
'I had to get away from everything because I could see that I was going down a dark route.'
Ridge now hopes he to inspire others who are going through a similar situation.
During his professional career, Ridge made 122 appearances for Manly as a fullback, scoring a whopping 1093 points for the Sea Eagles with 32 tries and 477 conversions.
He left the Eagles in 1996, returning home to New Zealand to play for the Auckland Warriors, but admitted that the transition was a difficult one.
'I had super-high standards and [had] come from the best team ... I came back to a team that had no culture,' he said.
He subsequently revealed that he felt he was 'thrust into a role where I started coaching' in a bid to help improve the Warriors. But he added a lot of his team-mates didn't want to listen to him.
Despite that, he admitted he did not regret joining the side.
'It made me resilient... and I met some real cool people,' he explained.
