sport news Mitchell Pearce comes clean about 'self-sabotaging with women' and why he ... trends now
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Former NRL star Mitchell Pearce suffered the public humiliation of being forced to cancel his own wedding because of a texting scandal. Now he has opened up and admitted he would use alcohol to manage anxiety and self-sabotage his relationships.
It has been a lifelong battle for Pearce, who has always felt the pressure to succeed after making his NRL debut when he was just 18 and came in with a weight of expectation because of his famous father Wayne's pedigree.
Rightly or wrongly, he was rarely celebrated for any of the Sydney Roosters or New South Wales Blues triumphs, but was also the poster boy for their failures.
Mitchell Pearce and Jake Friend celebrate with the NRL trophy in the Roosters changeroom after winning the 2013 NRL grand final
Pearce has now admitted he self-medicated for anxiety issues with alcohol and self-sabotaged relationships because of his insecurities.
Pearce was fined $20,000 and suspended for one match in 2014 for an incident at a Kings Cross nightclub. As a result, he was not selected for the New South Wales State of Origin team and was ordered to attend alcohol counselling sessions by the Roosters.
In 2016 Pearce was forced to apologise and admitted he had an alcohol problem after vision emerged of him simulating a sex act with a dog at a boozy Australia Day party. He was fined $125,000 by the NRL and suspended for eight games.
