'Boozing makes me cheat, brawl & bare all'
Megan, 23, becomes flirtatious and aggressive when she's had a drink
It's not just Jordan who becomes out of control when she drinks... Megan
Russell reveals how boozing is ruining her love life.
Teetering on her killer heels, Megan Russell makes a beeline for one of the hunky guys she's noticed leaning against the busy bar. As she draws close, she pulls him into a passionate kiss.
He steps back, stunned. He's on a night out with his best friend - Megan's boyfriend - who's standing beside him. Megan, 23, knows her boyfriend, Matt Smith*, saw the kiss. In fact, that's why she did it.
She then slowly begins to strip out of her slinky black dress down to her bra and knickers. She twirls her semi-naked body to the applause of all the blokes at the bar, seeming to revel in the attention.
But there's one man who isn't enjoying Megan's strip show - Matt. It's not the only time he's watched his girlfriend flirt with and kiss other guys - he's also witnessed her lashing out in unprovoked violent rages. All because she's drunk.
And tonight he's had enough. He tells her it's over and leaves. Matt's not the first lover to have ditched Megan over her drunken behaviour - and he probably won't be the last.
Just like Jordan - the model, mum and businesswoman also known as Katie Price, whose alleged drunken antics caused her hubby Peter Andre to dump her - Megan's drinking has had a catastrophic impact on her love life.
Ordinarily, Megan is a sweet-natured admin assistant who lives in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. The daughter of two school teachers, she loves shopping, keeping fit and dotes on her two younger sisters Until she picks up a drink. Then she turns into a sexually aggressive, vindictive, attention-seeking nightmare. And she isn't alone. Megan seems to be typical of a growing breed of young women who work hard, play harder and drink dangerous amounts of alcohol.
In the past, when talking about Jordan, her now-estranged husband Peter Andre has said: "From the moment she starts drinking, I lose her, and I don't get her back till the next morning."
He also commented that when his wife was sober he trusted her 100 per cent - but when she was drunk she became a different person, capable of anything. And it seems Megan's reaction to alcohol is equally as explosive. When she drinks, her normal social boundaries disappear.
"It's like Jekyll and Hyde. When I drink, a crazy, aggressive side of me comes out," Megan explains.
"I want to challenge everyone and everything. I also become really flirtatious. I'll walk up to a stranger at a bar and just kiss them. I snogged three guys from the same group one night, and made them all think they were going to come home with me. I crave attention and often strip off to my bra and pants on the bar."
In the last year, Megan has been dumped twice because of her drunken antics, and she's on a final warning from her current boyfriend John. She admits her behaviour gets out of control when she's been drinking.
"I tell myself that I can control it. That this time I'll just have a couple of glasses of wine and head home," she says.
"But all my mates are drinking and I just can't stop - one glass becomes a bottle and I become more outrageous - and aggressive."
Recent figures released by the Government show 25 per cent of assaults in England and Wales are now carried out by women, usually drunk women.
Just six months ago, Megan attacked her then-boyfriend Matt, 26, with a stiletto heel - just because she was drunk. Another time she lashed out at a group of guys for making sleazy comments about her antics.
A year ago, Megan didn't drink much at all. She only began drinking heavily when she started working as an admin assistant at a city bank.
Desperate to fit in with her co-workers after a stressful 10-hour day, Megan drank to calm her nerves. Once her inhibitions went, she became the life and soul of the party.
She was soon going on booze benders three nights a week, which saw her downing a bottle and a half of wine, six shots, half a bottle of champagne and a couple of double vodkas in an evening.
"After nights out, my workmates would tell me what I'd done - snogged guys, stripped off. I'd cringe, but they thought it was hilarious. And after each night out I'd vow not to drink the next time - but I always gave in. Being the only sober person on a work night out was too dull. I felt like the odd one out."
Megan's hangovers were monstrous too - often resulting in her being sent home from work for being sick.
She knew she should stop - but she couldn't. Until she met and fell in love with Matt, a personal trainer from her gym. They started dating, and she moved in with him within a week.
Megan managed to play the perfect girlfriend for a couple of months. She stayed in and cooked romantic meals for the two of them. But then she started going out again. And the problems began. It was clear her drinking was driving a wedge between them.
"The final straw came six months after we got together, when I snogged his best friend right in front of him," she admits. "When I'm drunk I really crave drama - and I got it."
Matt stormed out of the club and demanded she move out for a few days to give him time to think about whether they had a future.
A few nights later, Megan called Matt in tears, begging for crisis talks at his flat. He agreed but nervous about facing him, Megan cracked open a bottle of wine and, before she knew it, she was outside his door, drunk.
"When I turned up I could barely walk. I angrily threw my stilettos on the floor and Matt asked me to move them out of the way. I erupted and grabbed one, then threw it as hard as I could."
Matt was left bleeding from the wound, but Megan launched herself at him, lashing out again. She was only subdued after his flatmate came to his rescue. As ever, she was hugely apologetic - but this time it didn't make a difference. Their relationship was over, for good.
"I was heartbroken and so disgusted with myself that I couldn't get out of bed for a week. I had to call in sick to work," she says. "I phoned Matt constantly, begging him to take me back and promising not to drink again, but he'd heard it all before. I hated myself so much for losing him."
Megan believes she has an addictive personality - but says she isn't an alcoholic as she can choose not to drink if she wants to. What is for sure is that her boyfriend, friends and family all want her to ditch the booze. Last Christmas, she ruined dinner by throwing crockery around the dining room after drinking all day at her family home in Surrey.
"When I sobered up, I couldn't stop apologising. My parents were frightened because they had never seen me like that before. They've suggested that I go to my doctor for a health check-up and have banned me from drinking at family weddings this summer."
Megan's currently dating 26-year-old chef John Murray, who she met a month ago through mutual friends at a gig. But their relationship has already hit a rocky patch. A couple of weeks ago she attacked him after finding him texting an ex.
"I slapped him in front of all his friends because I was so mad that he was texting his ex-girlfriend. John said he'd dump me if he ever saw me like that again."
And it seems after a string of catastrophic clashes, Megan has finally recognised she has a problem with drink.
"I'm terrified of losing John, so I have virtually stopped going out - it's easier to stay sober that way - and I'm planning to enrol in anger-management classes."
As she mulls that last statement over, Megan pauses for thought and it's as if she realises that, for her, being a party girl has too high a price.
"Maybe I'll have to make the decision to stop drinking totally - if I don't want it ruining my life altogether."
PSYCHOLOGIST'S VIEW
Dr Claudia Herbert, clinical
psychologist and Director of The Oxford Development Centre, says:
"Alcohol affects the brain like an anaesthetic - meaning it shuts down, leaving many people unable to control their behaviour. People who are usually expressive and emotional can become even more so, and angry feelings buried inside can come to the surface.
In Megan's case, it's likely her anger stems from an earlier relationship. Perhaps she was hurt by a past boyfriend and this makes her want to lash out at her current one when she's drunk.
Although she knows the effect alcohol has on her, she still drinks. Maybe she uses it as a coping mechanism when she feels fragile, or she wants to block out her emotions - but it has the opposite effect. I think she would benefit from counselling."
John says: "When I first saw Megan drunk, it was horrible - really unattractive. I was very shocked to see that side of her and I found it really upsetting because she is normally so lovely. I'm not her counsellor - she has to help herself - but I've told her I will split up with her if I ever see her like that again. I can't put up with that."
Matt says: "I loved Megan, but I hated what she turned in to when she drank. I didn't trust her not to cheat on me and I didn't want the arguments anymore."
PHOTOGRAPHY: JAMIE
HUGHES. HAIR & MAKE-UP: SHERRIE WARRICK. STYLING: LUCIE CLIFFORD. MEGAN
WEARS (TOP IMAGE): TOP AND JEANS, NEW LOOK; NECKLACE AND BRACELETS, FREEDOM
AT TOPSHOP.MEGAN WEARS (BOTTOM IMAGE): TOP, NEW LOOK; NECKLACE AND
BRACELETS, AS BEFORE.
*NAME HAS BEEN CHANGED
Please note: All comments are moderated.
Tick this box to accept our
TERMS & CONDITIONS
This article has 4 comments
people who have this kind of problem cannot certainly start the first glass, once they do it, it will be hard to stop.
By cesar augusto braga.. Posted July 15 2009 at 1:50 PM.
When I get drunk I go round my ex-boyfriends house and cry and cry in the street. He's married to someone else now and it's my fault we split but when I've had too much booze I try to get him back. If I hadn't got drunk and kissed his mates he would have been married to me now. I'm going to cut right down on drinking before it ruins my life.
By Marlene.. Posted July 5 2009 at 7:29 AM.
Binge drinking made me break my ankle. It made me fall down the stairs. It made me fall and break my nose. It made me aggressive and reckless and it made me vomit on myself when I was in bed asleep. Once I soiled my pants too. I hardly drink now, I can't take it anymore. My body's had enough. It's also wrecked my skin. Cheap booze in supermarkets makes it so easy to get drunk these days and the pubs are always open. Not good.
By Helen.. Posted June 25 2009 at 10:12 PM.
I used to drink too much and get into trouble every time I drank. I had no self esteem, I alienated my family, friends and partners, I thought there was no way I could be an alcoholic as I was only 18. But I went to AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) as my parents asked me to, and I discovered that I am an alcoholic even though I didn't drink every day but my problem is that once I started to drink I couldn't stop. I really recommend if you want to gain back self esteem and stop the consequences of drinking that you get the help you need. I can now go out and party, be the first on the dance floor and let myself just be me, but I don't have to take a drink (or a lot of drinks) to be able to do that. www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk
By Kate.. Posted June 9 2009 at 10:56 PM.