Strictly's Paul Merson wanted to break his own fingers when issues gripped him

Paul Merson has become a campaigner following his well-documented addition issues

Paul Merson says he wanted to break his own fingers to stop him placing a bet.

Merson, 56, is competing in the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing, and he and dancing partner Karen Hauer will find out their fate following the third week of competing this evening on BBC1.

Olympian Tom Dean and his dance partner Nadiya Bychkova were voted off in controversial circumstances last week following their dance-off against Toyah Wilcox and her dance pro Neil Jones.

The theme this week was Movie Week, with Merson and Hauer performing the Cha Cha to The Magnificent Seven Theme.

READ MORE: Strictly's Sam Quek woke up bleeding hours before going live on air in health scare

Before the series began, Merson said he was keen to throw himself into the competition. "Joining Strictly is a whole new ball game for me," he said. "But I’m going to tackle this challenge head on. I’m ready to swap the pitch for the ballroom floor, so here’s hoping my two left feet can learn some moves and you never know, maybe I’ll be taking home the Glitterball Trophy.

"It hasn’t really sunk in yet because I try not to worry about things beyond my control. People ask if I’ll be nervous, but I won’t know until it happens. I prefer to take life one step at a time."

Merson's problems with gambling and alcohol addition are well documented and he has been a keen campaigner for reforming the gambling industry, after struggling with an addiction he claims has cost him £7million over the last 30 years.

He is now blocked from all betting companies, and says his wages, including the six-figure sum he will earn from Strictly, now go straight to his wife Kate in a bid to ensure he doesn't blow them on gambling.

At one point in his struggles, he admitted he wanted to break his own fingers to stop him placing a bet.

He told talkSPORT: "The addiction is so overwhelming, it's scary what it does... you don't see the risk factor. If you put your hand in a fire and went to do it again your brain would tell you 'don't do that again.' With addictions the brain doesn't tell you that. The addiction wants you on your own... that's where it's dangerous.

"You start gambling and drinking, you don't come home at night, you start losing all the money, you're losing everything, you're letting people down around you so you hate yourself. Your self-worth and self-respect goes out the window and you hate yourself with a passion.

"You then think 'how am I going to get myself out of this? I know what I'll do, I'll start drinking and gambling again'. And you do it all again. When you don't realise that you're an ill person it's a horrible place to be.

"The only time I felt relieved was when I had nothing left. When I got to zero I was like 'I don't have to do this any more.' How mad is that? I was playing at Aston Villa playing away at Charlton. No one ever shared a room with me because I was gambling and never slept in the afternoon and I wanted to break my fingers so I couldn't pick the phone up - that's how bad the compulsion was."

• The National Gambling Helpline (run by GamCare) – call 0808 8020 133 for free 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for free information, support and counselling