Long before becoming the World’s Strongest Man and setting records on the biggest stages in strength sport, Eddie Hall says he was battling drug addiction, depression and some of the darkest moments of his life.
Appearing on Alhan FM’s YouTube show, Hall opened up about the difficult period that almost derailed his future, revealing how a conversation with his mum ultimately changed the direction of his life forever.
While many know Hall for winning the World’s Strongest Man title in 2017 before retiring the very next day, he explained that his sporting journey actually began in the swimming pool.
His mother was a swimming teacher, while his older brothers were also involved in the sport, leading Hall to follow the same path.
“I ended up going to national championships at age 10 and I won every single front crawl race you could do. At 11, 12 and 13 I did the same, won everything, set British records and I was on what they called the World Class Potential Squad. It’s basically the junior Olympic team,” he said.
Hall believes those early years were the first sign that he had the genetics to excel in elite sport.
“I guess that’s where I knew I had a talent. Wherever I put my heart and soul into something, I just had the genetics to excel at that,” he said.
However, his life quickly took a very different turn during his early teenage years.
After being expelled from school, Hall admitted he became heavily involved with drugs and alcohol while his swimming career rapidly declined.
“I got myself into a bit of a dirty situation where I was addicted to heavy drugs and I used to drink a lot,” he said.
When asked what drugs he was taking, Hall replied: “Cocaine, cannabis, whatever. And I would honestly go and buy a crate of beer every single day and drink a crate of beer to myself. I was a real-life Homer Simpson.”
The situation worsened after several personal events happened within a short period of time.
Hall explained that his grandmother was diagnosed with cancer, he discovered he was going to become a father, and his performances in the pool collapsed.
“That whole thing happened at once. I got a nan that was very close to me diagnosed with cancer. I managed to get a girl pregnant and then, obviously because of all that, my swimming went downhill very fast,” he said.
The emotional toll eventually led to a clinical diagnosis.
“I got a very heavy bout of depression. Really bad. Diagnosed with depression, prescribed Prozac and I had to see a psychiatrist once a week every week for two years,” he said.
Looking back, Hall admitted there were moments that remain difficult to think about.
“During that time there were some really dark, horrible moments in my life,” he said.
It was then that his mum stepped in with what Hall described as the turning point.
Rather than allowing him to remain at home feeling sorry for himself, she insisted he get out and try something different.
“It was actually my mum that one day, when I was probably about 14 or 15, said, ‘Look, you can’t stay at home all day w***ing,'” he said.
His mum signed him up to a local gym, and Hall says the impact was almost immediate.
“My mum joined me in a gym and I ended up going. Give it a month – every time I walked out of that gym I felt better. I got a feeling of self-worth. My anxiety and my depression just sort of melted away very, very fast,” he said.
From that point, Hall says he became completely obsessed with training.
“That was it. I was hooked. I was a gym addict. I’ve got a very addictive personality. This is why I was addicted to cocaine, to drugs and alcohol in essence. That was replaced with the gym,” he said.
He added: “That’s when I started my weightlifting journey when I was about 14 and I never looked back. I was blessed enough to go on and make a career from it.”
Featured image credit: Eddie Hall / Instagram / Alhan FM / YouTube
