Gogglebox star Mary Killen has revealed she has picked up an “addiction” to vaping at 67.
The Channel 4 couch potato critic has appeared on screens alongside her husband Giles for 10 years. Despite being often regarded as ‘Gogglebox originals’, the idiosyncratic telly pair didn’t arrive into the show until the fifth series.
Since then, Giles and Mary have marked themselves out to be two of the show’s most memorable characters. But regular viewers may be surprised to learn Mary appears to have picked up a bad puffing habit. And that’s despite the face she’s “never been interested” in cigarettes.
Gogglebox Mary ‘takes up vaping’
What’s more, according to Mary herself, she’s admitted her “addiction is a problem”.
Writing for MailOnline, Mary explained she started vaping two years ago. She had her first experience of one after her friend’s son offered her a tug on his Juul.
“I loved inhaling the odourless air and blowing it out again. It just looked so chic and felt cooling in the palm of the hand,” she said.
James, the son of her friend, let Mary keep the vape she’d been sucking on. And Mary consequently found herself purchasing replacement pods when her supply ran down.
I reasoned that it would be good if I were to appear to have at least one addiction.
Mary, who also refrains from alcohol, told her readers: “I reasoned that it would be good if I were to appear to have at least one addiction. I would be ‘levelling myself down’, so to speak. In a way that could make me more socially acceptable in drinking circles.”
‘Breaking the habit’
However, Mary also related how she believes her body is waking her up early in the morning – even if she went to bed late – because it needs another hit of nicotine.
But while she is apparently satisfied about the relative risks of vaping to as smoking cigs, Mary does regret how much she’s shelling out for it. She said she “wastes” about £14 per week on the replacement pods, “each one delivering roughly the same amount of nicotine as 20 cigarettes”.
I would probably kill or be killed by my family members if I tried to go cold turkey at home.
Mary went on: “And the addiction is a problem, because if I run out of replacement pods I become self-pitying and argumentative. Clearly this is a habit I need to break – but how? There are no NHS residential rehab units for vaping. And I would probably kill or be killed by my family members if I tried to go cold turkey at home.”
Argumentative? Our Mary? Surely not!
She said she is going to seek the help of Allen Carr, famous for his Easy Way To Stop Smoking book. She said there are now courses on how to stop vaping and she’s signing up “pronto”. The Gogglebox star promised to let her fans know how she’s getting on.
Good luck, Mary!
Celebrity Gogglebox is on Channel 4 this Friday (June 27) at 9pm.
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