'Raw and honest' Limerick woman's gambling story strikes a chord nationwide

AN 'INSPIRATIONAL' Limerick woman has opened up about her "deep" gambling addiction on The Late Late Show.

Trisha Lewis from Kilbehenny returned to screens last night to share another story with RTÉ's Ryan Tubridy. Pegged online as "brave", "honest", and "insightful", Trisha's interview struck a chord with many all over Ireland as they watched on last Friday night. 

With her sisters in the audience, Trisha began her interview stating, "for the first time I will probably publicly say it out loud, I am a gambling addict."

The social media star admitted that her gambling habit started recreationally in her 20s at casinos. "After work . . . after the pub you would go up and play, it would be great fun with friends," she said. Trisha admitted to Ryan that she began going "secretly and silently" as she was battling with other struggles such as her weight, and she found she wasn't comfortable going to pubs. 

At €85,000 in debt, she said: "It got out of control, and out of hand," she started. "I fell in love with blackjack, I fell in love with roulette, I fell in love with poker, I fell in love with two flies going up a wall," she laughed. 

As a competitive person by nature, Trisha admitted that at the height of her addiction, she was visiting the casino seven days a week, and taking loans from "loan sharks" who were in the casinos with her. Due to the "casual cruelty" she experienced in pubs, she spoke candidly saying, "I thought the casino was my safe place." 

Admitting she had been dealing with this addiction even during her first appearance on the talk show in 2019, where she then discussed her weight loss journey, Trisha admitted that she "wasn't ready" to disclose this addiction publicly at that time.

"I was trying to figure out how to fix my weight . . . and I just wasn't able to go there," she started. "I think I was still on the aftershock of the gambling," she continued, "I was dealing with debt and I just didn't share it." 

In October 2022, Trisha discussed that she found "a moment of clarity" as she overcame her anxieties about her addiction, "something mad came over me, I was walking around Dún Laoghaire and I was like, I'm ready, and I no longer was embarrassed."

"It's so scary," she said. "Slowly but surely my mental health, physical health, spiritual health was taken from me. I didn't just lose money, I lost all of my 20s at a casino". 

In refreshing honesty, Trisha stated: "It scared me to live, and it scared me to die, and thankfully I picked the right option and I am here today". 

The light came on when Trisha moved home to "get away from it." "I started from the bottom," she began. "I got myself barred from the casino . . . I begged them and I pleaded them . . . they did, and that was it". 

Wanting to tell her story to break down the "stigmas", Trisha shared that with therapy and coping mechanisms, she overcame her loneliness and found support from her family to overcome her addiction. "Every time I didn't want to continue I thought of them," she said. "I could see their faces and I didn't want to do that. I am very very lucky". 

Trisha finally took a gamble on herself, this time to clear her bill, and on May 26 2021, she succeeded and is now debt free.