BBC star Ore Oduba admits he's been an addict all his life as he comes clean
Ore Oduba is celebrating being "sober" for over a year after admitting he "spent most of [his] life as an addict". The TV presenter, 39, described how he had lived with addiction "silently, secretly for decades", confessing that his life may have been "ruined" if he had not been diagnosed or had not sought therapy.
Now, as he confirms he hopes to share the details of his addiction publicly one day, he has said he doesn't recognise his former self. Taking to Instagram, the former Strictly Come Dancing star shared a snap of himseld sitting on a train seat with his left hand facing upwards as it covered his mouth and nose.
He captioned the upload: "Until recently, I had spent most of my life as an addict. Shame was into woven into my addictive behaviours, they went hand-in-hand.
"Through therapy and finally admitting to myself that I'd suffered from addiction pretty much my entire life I'm so happy to share I've been 'sober' for over a year. If that is indeed how to describe my case."
He went on:"Despite living with it silently, secretly for decades.. undiagnosed and untreated it might well in the end have ruined my life. Funnily enough I didn't recognise the timing until I started reading this unbelievable book by @annaliehowling 'UNAPOLOGETIC'.
"I devoured it in a day... And while her expertise is on shame, pretty much every word Annalise said resonated so deeply with me that I realised I'd actually forgotten I'd made so much progress in the last 12 months. "I'm glad I don't even recognise that version of me anymore. (sic)"
Ore says that he had recently opened up to pals about his addiction struggles and hopes it would help him share his story publicly. He says he wants to do so to help others who are trying to become sober.
He added: "I've started speaking about my addiction to friends recently and the more I open up about it the more compelled I feel to share it publicly one day.
"There comes a point where once I've dealt with my demons, the most selfish thing I could do is keep it to myself. I know it'll have the power to help a lot of people. (sic)"
Taking to his Instagram with a six-minute reel, Ore was emotional as he confessed to feeling "ashamed and embarrassed" after falling for a scam. He had previously worked with BBC for their documentary series Claimed and Shamed, which helped people avoid being scammed.
However, he was fooled when he was contacted by someone pretending to be podcaster-and-author Mel Robbins. It came after he said on ITV1's Loose Women that the philosophy in her 2024 book The Let Them Theory had "changed his life".
He said that he initially thought he was speaking Mel and told her "everything". However, it turned out that Ore was actually speaking to a con-artist.
After his tell-all video, he was inundated with praise from people who could resonate with his experience. In his lengthy caption on sobriety, Ore added: "I can't believe the reaction to the video I posted at the weekend about getting scammed. This is one of the personal pictures I sent to them.
"And actually many of your comments talked about 'shame' and reminding me not to feel it. 'It's them, not you' sort of thing... totally right, and so kind, thank you.
"I have such a much better relationship with that word now than I used to but it's interesting how it still finds a way to knock at your door. I did feel ashamed of myself for being scammed, yes... but I know now how to deal with those moments of doubt and I pop that little bout of negative talk into a bin bag and throw it in the trash. (sic)"
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