A Blackburn man who lost £50,000 due to a gambling problem says he was in the midst of his addiction while on the X Factor.

Nathan Grisdale says he “lost everything” because of his gambling addiction.

The 28-year-old said his problems began at the age of 17 when he put a 50p bet on and ended up winning £740.

Lancashire Telegraph: Nathan Grisdale Nathan Grisdale (Image: Nathan Grisdale)

What followed was a decade of struggle and debt as Nathan chased the high of a huge cash win.

He said: “From that moment the gambling spiralled. I thought it was an easy way to win money.

“I kept gambling and gambling and ended up losing everything.

“It wasn’t even about the money it was about chasing the thrill and high of winning.”

Nathan said he was suffering in silence when he appeared on the X Factor in 2018 and was placing online bets on the morning of his audition.

He said: “I was suffering from my gambling addiction while on X Factor and no one knew about it at the time.

“I wasn’t even in the right mind space on the show. I lost a few hundred pounds shortly before I went for the audition.”

Nathan missed out on many social events and says his character changed as a result of his addiction.

He said: “When you win you love everyone and you are so nice to everyone. But when you lose you are moody and don’t want to speak to anyone.

“You block everything else out and you would rather be alone in your bedroom than go out.

“There were occasions where I had a friend’s birthday or night out that I had planned for ages and I had just enough money in my account to go out.

“Instead of going out I would gamble and lose it. Then I would make up an excuse to my friends as to why I couldn’t be there.

“As the years went on I would borrow money from friends with no intention of paying them back as they only thing that mattered to me was getting that fix from gambling.

“I also got involved with people who gambled which didn’t help.

“I would wake up at 4am and just stick an off season tennis bet on, anything that was in season at that time just to get my fix.”

Nathan said it took seven years to admit he had a problem despite concerns from family and friends.

He said: “A few of my friends and family pointed out to me that I was betting a lot but I told them it was just a bit of fun on the weekends.

“Deep down I knew that I had a gambling problem but it took around seven years until I actually admitted it to myself and everyone else around me.”

Nathan said is moment of clarity came when he placed a £500 bet and lost.

He said: “I looked at my account and I was in my overdraft. I started to look at my accounts and how much I actually deposited and realised this would really affect my life as my credit score was shocking

“One day I woke up and I knew if I didn’t change I would end up homeless and without any family around me.”

Nathan has even written a song about his gambling addiction which he posted to his Facebook followers.

The long-awaited gambling white paper setting out government proposals to make regulation of the sector “fit for the digital age” finally looks set to be published soon.

Ministers from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, including gambling minister Stuart Andrew and culture secretary Lucy Frazer, are due to answer questions in the House of Commons on Thursday, April 27.

Campaigners are hopeful it will include plans for affordability checks and the introduction of a statutory levy on gambling operators to pay for research, education and treatment of problem gambling met in the white paper.

Other measures hoped to feature include a reduction in stakes for online slot games to match those found in land-based gambling and the creation of a gambling ombudsman to deal with customer complaints.

Nathan, who hasn’t gambled for two-and-a-half years now, said these proposed changes are a step in the right direction, adding that more needs to be done to help gambling addicts.

He said: “It took years but I managed to stop myself.  I watched YouTube videos but didn’t attend physical meetings but I would recommend them to anyone suffering, just so you can be around people who have also been impacted.

“Changes need to happen and the government need to clamp down on gambling even more.”

Zoe Osmond, chief executive of charity GambleAware, said: “Gambling harm is a serious public health issue, which can affect anyone.

“As the leading independent charity and strategic commissioner of gambling harm prevention and treatment across Great Britain, we look forward to the publication of the white paper and with it, further regulation to prevent gambling harm.”