Wayne Lineker, the 64-year-old entrepreneur behind Ibiza's O Beach Club, has opened up about a 'ridiculous' drunken injury that set him back £30,000 and left him with lasting pain. Approaching a year of sobriety, he shared a clip of himself falling over on a wave machine on Monday, captioning it: 'This drunken decision a few years ago cost me £30k and an incredible amount of pain and discomfort for years to come...'
The Costly Stunt
Lineker recalled: 'I thought I'd be clever and just jump on our wave machine fully dressed... I now have a prosthetic full shoulder replacement but at the time I did not care because it went viral. Haha what an idiot. The money I've wasted drunk over the years is actually ridiculous.' He also mentioned losing 26 pairs of designer sunglasses in summer 2024 and misplacing a brand new Bentley for three days after a Kisstory event at Ocean, only to find it at the car wash he had forgotten about.
A Decade of Heavy Drinking
In February, Lineker told The Times that his drinking began when he opened O Beach in 2012. 'I drank every day since Ocean opened 13 years ago,' he said. 'I had seven drinks a day in the winter and 16 drinks a day in the summer, but that was Spanish measures, so it's triple, quadruple.' He estimated consuming 52,000 drinks over that period, often starting with a vodka and Red Bull before breakfast and continuing with red wine before arriving at the club at 4pm. Cocaine use compounded the problem, leading to sleepless nights.
Wake-Up Calls
A turning point came when a video of Lineker looking intoxicated in the O Beach DJ booth went viral, prompting partners to demand an intervention. Further motivation came from an emotional confrontation with his son Freddie, 21, who found him awake at 5am and cried, 'Dad, I don't want you to go.' Lineker said, 'I could see that what I was doing to myself, I was also doing to my family.'
He entered rehab at Priory Life Works House in Surrey after a five-day detox at Champneys in Tring. During his six-week programme, he attended his daughter Tia's wedding in Mallorca, where he reconciled with his brother Gary after more than 15 years of estrangement. 'That was the best moment of my sobriety,' he said, noting they 'were just like the brothers we always were.'
Health Scare and Recovery
Now nearly a year sober, Lineker faced a seven-week hospital stay after two severe pneumonia attacks. He fell ill on a flight from Dubai to the UK and later told The Mirror: 'There were two times I nearly passed away - it was a real eye opener for me. I became worried about my life. Am I going to make it? I lost so much weight, I lost 11 kilograms because I was lying in bed for seven weeks.'
Despite the hardships, Lineker remains grateful for his memories, which he plans to share in a forthcoming book. He concluded his post with thanks to Priory Life Works House and the hashtags #lifesavers and #ibizaalwayswins.
