‘It was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made’: Waterloo Road’s Richard Mylan admits his 20-year heroin addiction was ‘career-ending’ which stemmed from his ‘crippling anxiety’
- Explaining how his personal and professional relationships had suffered in the candid interview, he revealed that “pieces of his life” were taken away and he felt like he’d been “washed up on a shore”.
- The 48-year-old actor, who notably played Deputy Headmaster Simon Lowsley at Waterloo Road, admitted his “crippling fear” as a West End star early in his career was to blame for his poor decisions
- He shared how he has been in recovery for 10 years and wants to “alleviate” the stigma associated with addicts so they can seek help
- Richard – who has also appeared on The Bill – said “it was the biggest mistake he ever made” and even claimed his admission could be a “career end” in a video
Richard Mylan has confessed to a 20-year heroin addiction he has kept secret.
The 48-year-old actor, who notably played Deputy Headmaster Simon Lowsley at Waterloo Road, admitted his “crippling fear” as a West End star early in his career was to blame for his poor decisions.
In the candid interview, he detailed how his personal and professional relationships had suffered, revealing that “pieces of his life” were being taken away and he felt like he’d been “washed up on a shore”.
‘It was the biggest mistake I ever made’: Waterloo Road’s Richard Mylan has admitted a ‘career-ending’ 20-year heroin addiction stemmed from his ‘crippling anxiety’
He told the BBC he has been in recovery for 10 years and wants to “alleviate” the stigma attached to addicts so they can seek help.
Richard – who has also appeared on The Bill – said “it was the biggest mistake he ever made” and even claimed his admission could be a “career end” in a video.
He began: “It seemed to get more and more out of control as my life progressed and my personal relationship suffered, my work relationships suffered, it robbed me of my inner ambition.
Tragic: The 48-year-old actor detailed how his personal and professional relationships had suffered in the candid interview, revealing he had “parts of his life” taken away (pictured in 2005)
“In the end I had enough. I was just fed up with this cycle of just being submerged. It’s almost like washing up half dead on a shore and thinking, “Enough.”
“And that’s why we have to challenge the stigma, because if we have any chance of other addicts reconnecting with it, we have to at least alleviate some of that stigma because it’s keeping people down there.”
While Waterloo Road will return to BBC Three later this year, having already started filming, it’s unclear if Richard will reprise his role.
Opening up: He shared how he has been in recovery for 10 years and wants to “alleviate” the stigma associated with addicts so they can seek help
Wow! Richard – who has also appeared on The Bill – said “it was the biggest mistake he ever made” and even claimed his admission could be a “career end” in a video
Richard shares 17-year-old son Jaco Mylan with his makeup artist’s wife Tammie Dineen, who successfully battled an unspecified type of cancer in 2018.
Speaking of their wedding, he said: “We met on the set of ‘Waterloo Road’, we were both single and would often find each other at the silly hour in the morning and bond very quickly.
“We really hit it off straight away. In fact, I pretty much knew as soon as I met her that I wanted to marry her.
“I proposed to her on a bench we used to sit on, overlooking the River Clyde.
Fingers crossed! He played Deputy Headmaster Simon Lowsley in Waterloo Road, although it’s unclear if Richard will reprise his role in the BBC Three reboot later this year
“Waterloo Road had finished filming and I returned to Cardiff and she drove home to Dundee and I set up my camera and said we should take some pictures of our special place.
“I think she was wondering what on earth I was doing because I kept building it up for different poses and then got down on one knee!”
Richard won two Welsh Baftas for a documentary he made with Jaco that chronicled his life with autism.
Couple: Richard shares 17-year-old son Jaco Mylan with his wife, makeup artist Tammie Dineen, who successfully battled an unspecified type of cancer in 2018 (pictured in 2016)