EXCLUSIVE: Calum Best treks the Himalayas promoting healthy living after dad's downfall
THE son of legendary footballer George Best will today start a gruelling trek across the Himalayan mountains in a bid to help others lead a healthy life.
Many will remember 33-year-old Calum for the heavy partying and playboy lifestyle he lived in the wake of his father’s untimely death in 2005.
But the model turned businessman has kept out of the public eye for the past four years and is now opening his heart to explain how he turned his life around.
"When my dad died in 2005 I got into a dark place," Calum admits.
I was drinking to forget, which is ironic because it was the drink that killed my father
"I felt lost and lashed out. I thought screw this world and went nuts for a few years.
"I was drinking to forget, which is ironic because it was the drink that killed my father.”
Manchester United footballer George Best battled with alcohol addiction for many years before he died and Calum admits he was so devastated by his father’s death, he even contemplated taking his own life.
He reveals: “I honestly believe if I hadn't been going out every night then I believe I would have killed myself. That's how low I felt. I was in such a dark place.
"I used the nightclubs, the girls and the boozing as a place of solace and family, but really they couldn't care less about me.
"It was like I was surrounded by loads of people in this crazy city but I have honestly never felt so lonely."
Brought up in California, Calum moved to Britain aged 19 to spend time with his superstar father and was instantly a media hit.
But unfortunately he didn’t form the kind of the relationship with George he desperately sought.
He reveals: "I was modelling, making TV shows, going out and travelling the world and life was good.
"I had opportunities to go to nightclubs and be paid to be there and drink for free.
"I was doing what any other young lad would do.
"But I was searching for a path in life. To everyone else my dad was a legend but to me he was just an alcoholic father.
"When he died I became a lost soul and the years following were the worst time of my life.
"To everyone else it looked like I was having a great time partying all the time.
"I'd see pictures of me falling out of nightclubs and people would call me a 'seedy lothario' and 'a scumbag' and I thought, I'm not that man.
"I didn't recognise myself. "I'm honestly not that cocky dude who thinks he can run the world.
"I was deeply insecure and paranoid. "At one stage I wouldn't want to make eye contact with people in the street in case they thought I was a c***."
Calum decided to seek help and take himself out of the public eye to help him get his life back on track.
"It was a demonic struggle, but I believe everyone can change," he says.
"It started with the BBC asking me to do the documentary, Brought Up By Booze, where I realised I wasn't alone."
The following year Calum's mum Angie moved to London and helped him quit the drink and fags.
"She helped me have this epiphany and realise I needed to change my ways," he reveals.
Now Calum runs several successful businesses, and spends his days training in the gym.
He’s ditched the late nights in favour of early mornings, eats organically and spends hours training.
He admits he is using the tough 12-day trek across the Himalayas to not only raise money for the British Heart Foundation but also to lay the ghosts of his past to rest.
"I was looking for a challenge and put a call out on Twitter," he explains.
"The BHF responded and had the idea for me to do this challenge.
"It's the perfect match because they are all about helping people of all ages to lead a healthier lifestyle.
"The guilt of my behaviour in the years following Dad's death I will hold onto for a long time.
"I'm definitely going to be doing some soul searching up there in the mountains and use the time to think.
"I want to sit up there and get some peace and put some ghosts to bed."
Calum's trek will take place in the Indian Himalayas, rather than Nepal, where the recent tragedies involving lost trekkers have occurred.
He's doing the challenge alongside best pal Fraser Carruthers and hopes to raise money and awareness for those also seeking to live a healthy life.
And Calum admits being faced with pal Gazza's struggle with alcoholism is extremely hard to handle.
"I look at Gazza and feel so much love and sadness. When my dad died he came to me and said he would help me.
"He became a good friend but over the years I saw him drink more and more and watched him have the same struggle as my dad.
"I've learned that you can't help an alcohol-dependent person - if you try they will shut you out.
"He needs to help himself." In the run-up to the trek, Calum's days have revolved around daily workouts alongside pal Jonny at the Lomax gym in London's Chelsea.
"I drink juices, eat organic food and work out as much as I can," he says. "Jonny has me walking in full kit on the treadmill on a high incline.
"This is the new me and I am in the best place I've been in years.
"I want to show other young men and women that if I can do this challenge, get fit and raise some money, anyone can."
Calum donated his fee for this interview to the British Heart Foundation. To sponsor Calum, text BEST 79 and £2 to 70070, or go to justgiving.com/calumandFraser
The BHF runs a series of overseas fund-raising challenges every year, from the Dalai Lama Himalayan Trek to on and off-road bike rides from London to Paris.
Visit bhf.org.uk/world to find how you can join the fight against heart disease
