Happy Mondays legend Shaun Ryder may have managed to give up hard drugs, but he's struggling to kick something way more addictive - Sour Patch Kids. The reformed Madchester raver ditched narcotics in the early 2000s after battling a severe addiction to heroin and other substances that lasted for roughly two decades.
These days Shaun avoids all substances, but can't resist a fizzy sweet - buying 20 packets at a time. He told the Sunday Star: "My addiction is those f***ing fizzy kids sweets Sour Patch Kids. I buy packets and packets up and they think I'm mad when I go in the shop and buy about 20 packets of them at a time."
Health Risks of Sugar Addiction
Tooth decay, weight gain, diabetes - the amount of sweets should come with a health warning, but the former hell-raiser has survived worse. However, Shaun says his new 'habit' may be more severe than he likes to admit. When asked how many Sour Patch Kids he gets through a day, he laughed: "I'm not even going there. Too many. Look, I mean, they'd probably check me off to be in a f***ing lunatic asylum if I told how many packets of them I get through….I got none at the moment, you see. I've got to go and get some."
Cycling as Recovery
If Shaun ever seriously needs to give up the sweets, he'll just get on his bike again. The star credits his recovery from hard drugs largely down to a dedicated focus on cycling. Rather than traditional rehabilitation, he was committed to intense physical activity, sometimes cycling for hours a day to establish a new routine and support his well-being. "It was about time I packed it in," he said. "It was cycling that got me off drugs. I'd get on my bike very early in the morning and keep cycling until very late at night... 8am until 11pm."
Shaun hits the road for a spoken word UK tour in September, and his new book 24 Hour Party Person is out now.
