Channel Seven game show host Andrew O’Keefe has admitted he thought his life was “meaningless” after his marriage to wife Eleanor broke down.
The couple, who share children Barnaby, 15, Rory, 12, and Olivia, eight, quietly separated in 2017 and divorced in 2019, with Andrew becoming a headline fixture for his wild behaviour following their split.
In a candid interview with Sunrise on Thursday morning, the 48-year-old reflected on the turbulent period in his life after host David Koch told him: “We have been worried about you for the last year or two…”
“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,” Andrew responded.
“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.”
READ NEXT: EXCLUSIVE: IN PICS: Andrew O’Keefe’s 48-hour bender
“Everyone hits a part of their life where they really question what it’s all about,” Andrew admitted on Sunrise.
(Image: Channel Seven)In April, filming of game show The Chase was halted for eight-weeks as host Andrew took a sudden leave of absence.
At the time, O’Keefe’s manager Mark Klemens told The Daily Telegraph in a statement: “Andrew O’Keefe is currently taking some time off from his demanding and busy schedule to regroup and work through some personal issues.”
Andrew later confirmed to The Herald Sun that he had entered a mental health facility to address his “unhelpful behaviours”.
On Sunrise he alluded to his method of dealing with these personal issues.
“In those times, we have several choices about how we deal with things and sometimes we rely on things that aren’t so great for us. Sometimes people turn to work and they work their way through their pain or turn to drugs or turn to alcohol or drugs or eating or whatever,” he said.
“I just feel very lucky that in this country we have these institutions and the expertise to be able to deal with those things and get on top of it.”
WATCH: Andrew O’Keefe’s last day on Weekend Sunrise. Story continues below…
Andrew and ex-wife Eleanor in 2009.
(Image: Getty)In September last year, Woman’s Day exclusively revealed details of Andrew’s 48-hour bender, where he had been caught out partying with women half his age.
Photos showed the TV personality kissing a young woman at a nightclub in Tasmania and partying with a partially clad woman in Queensland.
“He told me he’d been on a 48-hour bender and he was clearly very wasted,” revealed the 21-year-old university student who was shocked when Andrew grabbed her and kissed her passionately as a friend took their photo.
“Everyone was pretty drunk, but he was off his face,” the woman, who did not want to be identified, told Woman’s Day.
“I went over to say hi to some friends he was sitting with, and I put my arm around him for a photo, but I didn’t expect him to kiss me. It was a bit of a shock. But he was really, really drunk.”
While the former Deal Or No Deal and Weekend Sunrise host was on his “48-hour bender”, he also had his credit card declined a “handful of times” at the nearby Mobius Lounge Bar, and was ejected from the women’s bathroom at the club.
Mobius staffer Peter Banks confirmed in a Facebook post that he “kicked him out of the female toilets” during what observers said was one very wild weekend in Hobart.
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In happier times: Andrew and Eleanor (pictured in 2008) quietly split in 2017.
(Image: Getty)