Dancing on Ice’s Eddie the Eagle suffered ‘darkest two years’ after wife asked for divorce

Eddie the Eagle has admitted he suffered with depression after his wife asked for a divorce.

The ski jumper shot to fame when he represented Great Britain at the Calgary Winter Olympics back in 1988 and it didn’t take long before the sportsman – whose real name is Michael David Edwards – stole the hearts of the nation. At the prestigious sporting event, the skiing legend finished last in both the 70-metre and the 90-metre ski jumping events.

In the closing ceremony of the Canadian games, the President of the organising committee Frank King singled out the former plasterer from Cheltenham and sealed his nickname Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards in Olympic history. He said: “You have broken world records and you have established personal bests.

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“Some of you have even soared like an eagle.” Since then, Edwards held the British ski jumping record until 2001 and his famous underdog story was soon turned into a heartwarming biopic film starring Taron Egerton back in 2015. Despite the star reaching incredible heights throughout his career, the now-axed Dancing on Ice star has also lived through some terrible lows.

Back in 2016, the sporting legend revealed he had divorced his wife of 13 years. The Olympian from Cheltenham met his wife Samantha Morton while working as a part-time radio presenter and, strangely enough, studying for a law degree.

The ITV star was his co-host on the afternoon show and it didn’t take long before sparks flew between them. The couple married in Las Vegas back in 2003 in a drive-through ceremony at the Little White Wedding Chapel.

During their marriage, the couple went on to welcome two daughters, Otillie, 19, and Honey May, 16. But things took a turn for the worse in 2014 when Sam dropped a bombshell that she wanted to leave him when he returned home from a TV interview in Germany.

The star went on to confess he had been through the hardest period of his life before their divorce was finalised two years later. He told The Sun at the time: “It’s been the worst two years of my life. The darkest, definitely.

“I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. But s**t happens. You’ve got to think life can give you some bad knocks no matter how hard you’re knocked you’ve got to get up. We are still relatively close and I see the kids as much as I can.”

Eddie confessed that he became depressed after their separation. Although the star insisted that he never really lets negative things affect him, Edwards went on to say that his divorce hit him harder than he expected.

Speaking to The Huffington Post, he confessed: “Two years ago, my wife announced she wanted a divorce, and that affected me really badly. I never thought I could suffer from depression, but I realise I actually was depressed.

“I wasn’t nasty, I was just in a very down place all the time. It was a real effort to go out and do things. Being Eddie the Eagle was nice because I had to perform, and that kind of helped pull me up.

“But when I got home, I switched back to Michael Edwards, and I’d be weeping in front of the telly, because I wanted to be at home with my kids, reading them a bedtime story.”

The sportsman admitted that it took him a “long” time to pull himself out of his crippling depression which left him with a new outlook on life and mental illness. He went on: “I have tasted it, and I have a newfound respect and empathy for mental illness, depression and just how easy it is for people to get in a situation like that.

“I never thought I’d be someone who could get depressed, but it turns out it’s very easy.” Clinical depression is defined by the NHS as the feeling of persistent sadness for weeks or months, rather than a few days which most people commonly feel.

For emotional support you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.

Dancing on Ice continues on Sundays from 6.30pm on ITV1 or catch up on ITVX.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk