Simon Thomas turned to vodka to cope with wife's death

Simon Thomas turned to vodka to numb the pain of his wife's death.

The 51-year-old presenter's first wife Gemma, 40, died just three days after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in 2017 when their son Ethan was eight.

And, Simon admitted he turned to alcohol to cope.

He told The Sun newspaper: "For months every single night was a battle not to drink. Occasionally I would win, mostly I lost.

"I would sink a litre of vodka in an evening, disguised in a coke can.

"In social situations, where I felt more paranoid than I had ever done before, it became an even bigger mask."

Simon met his second wife Derrina, 31, one year after Gemma's death and he credits her with saving him and Ethan.

He said: "Without a doubt, she’s the reason Ethan is on a level footing.

“Derrina has been a massive blessing to us after everything that happened.

“She is a mother figure who came into his life, and it’s an amazing sacrifice to love someone else’s child.

"So, despite everything that’s happened, Ethan is incredibly lucky and blessed, which is a weird thing to say.

“But Derrina loves him like he’s her own.”

Along with Ethan, Simon and Derrina have a daughter Talitha together and another child on the way.