• Have YOU got a story? Email tips@dailymail.co.uk
• For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit https://www.thecalmzone.net/get-support
• See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source

Vinnie Jones has revealed that his late wife Tanya was the reason behind him getting sober as he hated seeing her disappointment amid the fallout of his drinking.

The footballer-turned-Hollywood actor's troubles with booze in his footballing heyday and early acting career was well documented, with Vinnie often finding himself embroiled in drunken brawls and trouble with the law.

However, Vinnie, 61, beat his alcohol addiction and turned his life around thanks to Tanya's influence, telling in a new interview that the look in her eyes was more punishment than any judge could ever dish out.

Recalling the fallout from a particular bar brawl in which he woke up 'chained to the bed' with '68 stitches in my head,' Vinnie told The Telegraph of 'real judge' Tanya: 'The police and jail didn’t bother me. My punishment was Tan’s disappointment. I could see it in her eyes. She’d say: "We can’t keep doing this".'

Vinnie's late wife Tanya, who he married in 1994, was tragically diagnosed with skin cancer in 2013, passing away six years later in 2019 after it spread to her brain.

And seven years after her death, Vinnie opened up on how he had to 'get on' with his grief after her death before revealing his 'luck' at having moved on with new partner Emma Ford.

Vinnie Jones has revealed that his late wife Tanya was the reason behind him getting sober as he hated seeing her disappointment amid the fallout of his drinking [pictured together in 2007]

Vinnie, 61, beat his alcohol addition and turned his life around thanks to Tanya's influence, telling in a new interview that the look in her eyes was more punishment than any judge could ever dish out

As he discussed sharing tough times with right-hand-man Paul Worby – his co-star from his now-defunct Discovery+ series Vinnie Jones in the Country – Vinnie told how they were tough together after realising death is inevitable.

He shared: 'My mum dies, then my wife dies, you know? We’re big, hairy-ae blokes, and we got to f*ing get on with it. Cancer, grief, mental health… somehow it’s all going to happen to all of us.'

Vinnie once said back in 2019 that he will 'never be with anyone else' following Tanya's death, however in his interview, he admitted 'we can talk too soon' as he reflected on his new romance with Emma Ford.

The couple met in 2022 when Vinnie employed Emma to be his PA for his TV show, with the two going public in 2024.

Giving a brief insight into his relationship, Vinnie shared: 'Tanya was a beautiful soul, and so is Emma. Good-looking too! I’m incredibly lucky to have met her, but she’d say the universe brought us together.'

Last year, the TV star revealed that Emma had 'promised his late wife Tanya she would look after him' – as he admitted she wouldn't want him to be alone.

'She said to me that she had had a chat with Tanz and said, "I'm going to look after him for you",' he said. 'That was kind of a defining moment for me.'

Speaking to The Sunday Times, Vinnie admitted Tanya would have wanted him to be happy and find a new partner.

Recalling a the fallout from a particular bar brawl, Vinnie said of 'real judge' Tanya: 'The police and jail didn’t bother me. My punishment was Tan’s disappointment. I could see it in her eyes' [pictured in 2013]

Vinnie with his right-hand-man Paul Worby [R] and his new partner Emma Ford [Centre]

He said: 'I'm at peace because does she want you to be on your own? No, because you're not going to be happy.'

But tragically she was diagnosed with cancer in 2013, and later died at the age of 53 in 2019.

Vinnie's meeting of Emma, a former PA to Mick Jones from The Clash who also worked as a showbiz reporter on Hollywood red carpets, came after she had returned to the UK after years spent working and partying hard in LA.

The new couple were brought together by the pandemic and Vinnie's farm in West Sussex – and she also became a star of the documentary series about his new rural life that aired on Discovery+.

Speaking to the Mirror in 2024, Vinnie admitted of moving on: '