Andrew O’Keefe opens up on his mental health struggles following marriage breakdown
Channel Seven game show host Andrew O’Keefe has opened up about his mental health struggle following a marriage breakdown.
In 2017, O’Keefe separated with wife Eleanor Campbell, with whom he shares three children with.
The former Deal or No Deal host also found himself the subject of tabloid headlines last year after pictures of him being “very wasted” on a “48-hour bender” at a private party in Cairns emerged.
Earlier this year, the 48-year-old took an eight-week break from filming The Chase. O’Keefe’s manager Mark Klemens said at the time that the host was “taking some time off from his demanding and busy schedule to regroup and work through some personal issues”.
Speaking to David ‘Kochie’ Koch and Sam Armytage on Sunrise Thursday morning, O’Keefe said he had thought life “was all meaningless” when he split up from his partner.
“Everyone hits a part of their life where they really question what it’s all about and who they really are, whether what they have done for the last four or five years means anything,” he said.
“And I think, when I split up from my wife, that was my time. and the thing I always believed in most of all in this life was the power of love and combining with someone to make something special, and when I lost that, I thought, ‘well, it was all meaningless’.”
O’Keefe said he saw the parallels between his struggles and those of his uncle, rock and roll singer Johnny O’Keefe.
“Uncle John himself struggled in life with mental health particularly,” O’Keefe said.
“He was a 24/7 kind of worker - and eventually that started to take its toll.
“But he was one of the first Australian celebrities to go public about his own mental health struggles. He used to refer to the Ryde Psychiatric Institute as his winter palace.
“I’ve struggled a little bit in that regard lately I suppose. Life has thrown a few things at me that I wasn’t quite prepared for. I wasn’t quite as resilient as I imagined I’d be.
“I just feel very lucky that in this country we have the professionals and expertise to deal with those things if you think it’s getting on top of you.”
If you are experiencing a personal crisis or thinking about suicide, you can call Lifeline 131 114 or beyondblue 1300 224 636 or visit lifeline.org.au or beyondblue.org.au.