Tara Palmer-Tomkinson has told how she has become a recluse after suffering a nervous breakdown.
The former socialite and I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! runner-up opened up about her battle with drug addiction on ITV show Jeremy Kyle: The Celebrity Specials on Tuesday.
The 42-year-old former party animal broke down in tears as she recalled the night she nearly died from an overdoes, and revealed why she returned to rehab two years ago.
Tara, who quit drugs 11 years ago following a 35-day stint in an Arizona Rehab clinic, said: "I went back to rehab two years ago but nobody actually knows why I went back.
"The reasons I went were private, the reasons I went were that I believed that I was having a nervous breakdown because I was so frightened of this British press, of these paparazzi who went through my rubbish, who led me to believe that every chimney sound or thunderstorm was a paparazzi attack and I couldn't deal with it and I still can't deal with it.
"Most people think that when you relapse that you have to take a substance. I have seen a therapist every single week for the last 11 years of my life, I don't need to relapse on a substance. I can relapse and it just means my brain is overdosing into a way that I just can't cope and you know what, I may not be perfect but parts of me are awesome!"
The former IT girl said: "I am a recluse... I get terribly anxious going out, I've only been out [in the evenings] three times this year... I haven't worked for two years."
Tara wept as she recounted her lowest point during her battle with cocaine addiction.
She said: "I remember timing my heart because I knew it was going to stop and I remember my telephone was [a few metres away]... I remember crawling on my hands and knees to pick up the phone and call... and then I woke up in hospital.
"I think that was the night I had an overdose. I have never attempted suicide... I think it was a cry for help."
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