Man who lost £250000 to gambling speaks out after inspiring fake Bradley Walsh quiz show
Warning: This article contains discussion of gambling addiction which some readers may find distressing.
The man whose story inspired Channel 4's Million Pound Shot show has spoken out about the surreal experience of having an actor play someone based on him on national TV.
It purported to be a new gameshow with the twist that contestants would be putting their own money on the line for a chance to win a million quid, with the man in the hotseat having to put his card in a reader and personally pay for every attempt he made.
The contestant, Reece, dug himself into a deeper financial hole as he got questions wrong and squandered his attempts to leave the show with more money than he started with, at which point a member of the audience started criticising the premise of Million Pound Shot.
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It was then that host Bradley Walsh revealed all, this wasn't Channel 4's new gameshow but the gambling industry playing out in front of the audience's eyes, with people in financial difficulty betting and losing money they really couldn't afford to part with.
One of the inspirations for Million Pound Shot was teacher Patrick Foster, who appeared at the end of the show to chat with George Reid, the actor playing Reece, and he's told LADbible about the having his story be part of the inspiration for the TV show.
"It was trying to convey that nobody sets out to become addicted"
“It was a very strange experience, I think they didn't want to base Reece exactly on my story so obviously there were some subtle differences, but it gave them a kind of blueprint of somebody who had been through that," Patrick said to LADbible.
“He was amazing at trying to find out as much information as he could about my story and how it progressed, and the sort of ebbs and flows of it.
“It was strange watching it knowing that it was sort of based on me and my story, but I think that it's not an easy thing to do and he did a brilliant job."
Patrick is a teacher who said he was 'approached somewhat out of the blue' by the producers of Million Pound Shot who told him they were putting together a show about gambling addiction, which lined up with the work he's done raising awareness about the harm it causes.
He's hoping that his story being adapted into the show will help convey the idea that 'nobody sets out to become addicted to anything', as he described how his day became dominated by gambling on sports in the day and throwing money at the online casinos at night.
"It was important to us both that it wasn't just the voice of the addict"
'Reece' shared some similarities with him, including his love for sport and his former habit of putting some money down in bets.
Patrick reckons that he gambled every day for the next 13 years after his first bet, and landed himself in £250,000 worth of debt which he said he's still paying off and he won't be debt free 'for a long time'.
When he met his partner Charlotte in 2016 she didn't know about his addiction and he tried to keep it from her, but in 2018 after betting everything he had on a losing horse at Cheltenham and sending a her and his brother message that he 'really didn't want to be here right now' they reacted in a way that led to him at last getting the help he needed.
Patrick said that Charlotte has 'always been really supportive' but was 'naturally very apprehensive about being involved' in the show where she'd need to talk about her partner's gambling addiction publicly, something she hasn't really done before.
While she 'found it difficult' to go through it again she saw what kind of impact Million Pound Shot could have on other people and Patrick has said he thinks it's important that audiences didn't just hear 'the voice of the addict'.
He said: "It shows the impact that it has on so many other people and obviously the people closest to them in the biggest way."
"I think it was super television"
Now the show is out on Channel 4, Patrick thinks it's done a great job of sending out an important message about gambling addiction.
When he first agreed to be part of the show he didn't expect it to have the impact or reach it's managed, but he reckons since it was 'done in a way that drew in people who otherwise may not have engaged with a program that focused on on these topics' it's been a big success.
People who might have thought they were sitting down to a weekend gameshow with that nice Bradley Walsh off The Chase will have been surprised buy the way the show changed directed after the halfway point.
Patrick thinks it's 'brought to light a really important societal issue and discussion', and reckons the show was 'super television' while also delivering an important message.
Speaking of messages, he's had plenty of 'lovely and supportive' ones from people he knows, but he's also had many others reaching out 'who've been affected either directly or indirectly' by a gambling addiction and thanked him for putting his real story towards the show.
"The response has been amazing"
He's glad it's been so well received by people who have lived experience of gambling addiction, so he's glad of the 'amazing' response.
"I think the most important message that I can give people is that recovery is possible, there is hope and there is a way out," he said of what he hoped to get through to people going through something similar to him.
"It's not easy, but it's worth it and I think seeking help or not trying to deal with it on your own is the most important thing, and realizing that a lot of people think what I did that gambling will stop the problem and that it just needs one big win and a bit of luck and they'll win money back, and that's not that.
"It doesn't happen, and for a lot of people even if they did no amount of money would ever be enough.
"I think understanding that gambling will never solve the problem that it's caused and actually the best thing you can do is seek support and start again.
"It's not easy, there is hope, there is a way out and life can get better and is possible without it.”
Please gamble responsibly. For help, support and advice about problem gambling, contact the National Gambling Helpline anytime on 0808 8020 133
Million Pound Shot is available to stream on Channel4.com.
Topics: Channel 4, Gambling, TV, Mental Health
Joe Harker
