Matt Cardle has revealed his drug and alcohol abuse left him weeks from death.
The 'When We Collide' singer went into rehab towards the end of the year after finally accepting he needed treatment for his Valium habit and admitted his doctor told him he wouldn't have survived if he'd carried on.
4 February 2014
He told The Sun on Sunday newspaper: "I was so out of it - I was like a zombie ... The doctor said to me if I'd been left to my own devices for another three or four weeks I might not be here now."
The 'X Factor' 2010 champion revealed the height of his abuse saw him getting drunk while taking anti-anxiety pills, which he initially convinced himself was safe because he was using prescription medication.
He admitted: "I didn't have my wits about me to even count how many I'd taken. It was a lethal situation. Towards the end I was so out of it I was asking people around me how many pills they'd seen me eat.
"That is what kills people. It's what killed Heath Slater and Anna Nicole Smith. Any time I started to feel stressed I would lean on the drugs and drink.
"I was kidding myself thinking I had a handle on it. That little word in front of the drug - prescription - gave it an air of safety for me. But it's the total opposite - they are highly addictive both physically and mentally."
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