Aaron Chalmers has revealed that bare-knuckle boxing saved him from the "slippery slope" of alcohol brought on by personal struggles. The 37-year-old Geordie Shore star is set to make his debut in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship this Saturday in Dubai, where he will face off against seasoned fighter Chasa Symonds.

However, just a year ago, Chalmers was grappling with alcohol following a series of personal issues. In an exclusive interview with Mirror Fighting ahead of his BKFC debut, Chalmers said: "So, I'm going to be honest right. I was on a bit of a slippery slope. 2023 was a good year, I had four fights, I was pretty active, I fought Floyd [Mayweather Jr]. I had a bad knee injury but I still had three fights.

"Everything was going in the right direction, and then after my last fight in November - a few days later my cousin died, who was literally my best mate, my brother. He passed away and I just went on a slippery slope. I started drinking f***ing really, really badly. Drinking badly.

"And then leading into 2024, my son...As I was trying to get myself back on the straight and narrow, my son went into hospital. It was meant to be a routine head surgery, and he was in a coma and he was in Liverpool fighting for his life for eight weeks, and I just didn't deal with it."