A DAD whose life spiralled when he was stuck in the grips of a gambling addiction has watched his hell replay on Coronation Street.
Corrie lovers watched in horror on Friday as a building yard went up in flames – with its owner Ed Bailey thought to have started it.
Ed, played by Trevor Michael Georges, is believed to have lit the blaze in an attempt to get a payout to help with his gambling debts.
It came after the builder came clean to his daughter about his addiction as he gave away the family’s Christmas presents to pay the money he owed.
And for Colin Walsh, 46, it’s a story he knows all too well – he found himself at that point a decade ago.
The dad-of-two started gambling at 16, and in the 20 years that followed he continued to rack up debt and steal money from his business to fund it.
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Now he’s a recovering addict and even helped build the latest Corrie storyline.
Colin told the Mirror: “My gambling was hidden, secretive and people only knew a part of me. And that’s why talking about it on Coronation Street is so important.”
The dad says he started with betting on a few sports as a teen, and carried on through university.
He said by the time he’d finished with his studies he was gambling more regularly – and didn’t stop.
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Colin recalled: “I started at the age of 16 on a few sports, I carried on through university and by the time I left, I was gambling more regularly.”
He explained that those closest to him, including his beloved wife, had no idea he was gambling and he “became an expert” at hiding his addiction.
Colin said that at the height of his gambling he was betting through more than 10 accounts and would take massive risks with big stakes online.
He says he still to this day doesn’t know how much money he lost.
Colin continued: “The problem is that my debts got bigger and bigger. I had credit cards, loans and overdrafts that kept increasing. In my head, I kept telling myself that I was due a big win and then everything would be OK.”
He started using his company’s money to fund his habit, but they eventually noticed.
It was then that he had to come clean, and said telling his wife was the hardest conversation of his life.
Colin last gambled on the lottery, and told himself “if the universe wanted” him to keep gambling, he would win – but he didn’t.
He then told his wife who vowed to stay by his side as he learnt to navigate in a world without betting.
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Colin, who has two sons, started attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings and still goes along to weekly meetings to this day.
He says he’s still in a far happier place now – and sees so much value in the likes of Corrie weaving gambling into storylines.
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