Freddy has revealed that he was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 10. Growing up in school, he often felt misunderstood — “the kid in class that wasn’t really the same.” He said concentration and behaviour were a struggle, and at the time he didn’t have the words to describe how difficult it was.
He admitted: “I didn’t mean to misbehave. I didn’t really know how to cope with everything that was going on. I don’t think I was bad, but I wasn’t good.”
That sense of being different was compounded by a deeply personal loss. Freddy was just four when his mother — the reality-TV personality Jade Goody — died of cervical cancer in 2009. His father, Jeff Brazier, became the sole carer. Losing a parent so young, Freddy later said, left a lasting impact on how he saw himself and struggled emotionally.
As he got older, Freddy faced more serious challenges. In 2025, he publicly shared that he had been “sectioned” after a series of manic episodes, had attended rehab, and battled addiction — which, he said, started with smoking cannabis from the age of 12.
He described that period as a “real journey … a tough one.”
On one haunting occasion, he said he “attempted to end it all” during a manic episode that culminated in crashing his car — an episode that landed him in a psychiatric ward on his 18th birthday.
Freddy also admitted he often bottled up emotion — unable to process grief, frustration or fear, choosing instead to hide. For him, mental health wasn’t something to talk about — until recently.
In a bid to break the stigma around mental health, Freddy launched a podcast, Load Of Old Cobblers, which serves as a platform for him to speak honestly about his past. In a preview clip he said: “I’ve been smoking since I was 12 … I’ve been to rehab, I’ve been sectioned, I’ve had manic episodes … There’s been a real journey and it’s been a tough one.”
He has expressed hope that his story might help others — those hiding their struggles or feeling too ashamed to open up. He used his own experiences to highlight how mental illness and neurodivergence often go hand in hand with grief, loss, and addiction, and how important it is to get help and find support.
While growing up was undeniably tough — being a child without his mother, dealing with ADHD unrecognised for years, and later grappling with addiction — Freddy’s decision to talk openly represents a shift: from silence to vulnerability.
His father, Jeff, has publicly acknowledged Freddy’s strengths and resilience, even if Freddy himself often doubts them. Their interactions on shows like Celebrity Race Across the World have shown the complexity of their relationship — pain, misunderstanding, but also love and support.
Now, through the podcast and his candid interviews, Freddy is trying to build a future based on honesty and healing. He’s sharing part of his story not just for him — but for anyone who has felt lost, alone, or broken.
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