Distraught Paul Gascoigne's late night calls to Richard Madeley

Paul Gascoigne has told how he made late night phone calls to chat show host Richard Madeley as a cry for help while battling alcoholism and his bipolar condition.

Following a lengthy stay in detox and rehab, Gazza, who has been back on the mend recently, reflected on darker times.

In an interview with Madeley and wife Judy Finnigan, he said: "I think I had a bit of psychotic inside of us, I knew what I was doing I mean, I've sent you some random texts, I must have sent them to you?"

Madeley responded: "Most of the phone calls I remember were about three in the morning, uh hello? That's Gazza."

Remembering his cries for help, Gascoigne recounted: "I would call you and then I'd think ooh, I'd start thinking someone was listening.

"I'd call you because I wanted to see if I was making sense, which I knew I wasn't but, I felt so lonely inside, so calling people to see if they still loved us and what happened when you called us back, I didn't take the call but at least I knew that you cared for us."

Before being treated for his addiction to alcohol, Gascoigne spoke of the terrible paranoia he experienced.

He said: "I put the Bible in the safe because I thought it was listening to my conversation."

He recalled his worries over a "get well" teddy that was sent to him.

He said: "So I'm looking at this teddy bear and the teddy bear obviously is still, but when I'm moving I think it's staring at us for no reason, so I stuck the teddy bear in with the Bible and locked the safe."

Madeley asked if he was scared at the time or knew that it wasn't real.

The football legend replied: "No, it was scary." He continued: "Even the smoke alarms, I thought were spy cameras."

The interview with Gazza airs tonight at 6pm on Watch.