TV’s jungle winner tells of despair ‘hell’

The McFly star has talked of his attempt to try to kill himself in his car after hitting rock bottom following a split from girlfriend Frankie Sandford and months of boozing.

Bass player Poynter spoke of his low point in the band’s new autobiography Unsaid Things... Our Story.

He and the group had been unhappy about the direction their career was taking and Poynter had already suggested they go their separate ways. His drinking had also spiralled out of control when he and Saturdays singer Sandford called an end to their relationship in late 2010.

In the book he said he was sitting on his kitchen floor in February 2011 feeling “the lowest I’d ever been”, unable to talk to his bandmates about his feelings or get to grips with how he could not drink in moderation.

“I was in a mess of my own making and there was no way out,” he said in the book, adding: “My life had turned into a relentless hell so the only solution was to end it.”

After he had made his decision, he said he did not feel nervous or guilty. “All I remember is an overwhelming sense of relief that I wouldn’t have to wake up the following morning feeling like this.”

He said the realisation he was in control made him more contented than he had felt for years, leaving him “happy”.

Poynter, 24, explained that he still does not understand why his suicide bid failed but when he realised it was not working he felt worse than ever.

But it made him determined to seek help and after visiting the band’s doctor, he was referred to a counsellor and then checked into rehab just days later at the Priory clinic.

After cleaning up, he went on to take part in I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! last autumn and won the series. Within weeks, his bandmate, drummer Harry Judd, had won Strictly Come Dancing.