Fallen AFL superstar Ben Cousins delivers a stunning 'no question off limits' interview about his dramatic fall from grace six months after he was released from jail
- Former AFL star Ben Cousins has filmed tell-all 'no question off limits' interview
- Channel Seven to air candid interview later in March as a feature-length special
- Expected to open up about downfall from grace and battle with drug addiction
Troubled former AFL champion Ben Cousins has broken his silence in a candid tell-all television interview about his dramatic downfall and battle with drug addiction.
The Brownlow Medallist and West Coast Eagles premiership superstar, 41, sat down with respected Channel Seven presenter Basil Zempilas in Perth last week, where he opened up about his turbulent post-AFL life, which included two stints behind bars.
The 'no question off limits' interview took place over five days and will screen later in March as a feature-length special, The Australian reported.
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Ben Cousins (pictured in Perth last July) filmed a tell-all television interview last week, which is expected to air on Channel Seven later in March
'It's one of the great untold stories in Australian sport,' Channel Seven head of news and current affairs Craig McPherson told The West Australian.
'Why did Ben Cousins go so dramatically off the rails? What really happened to him over the past decade?'It's an epic story of a riches-to-rags life infused with great hope and desire to get back on track.'
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Seven for comment.
It is Cousins' first television sit-down interview in ten years since his 2010 documentary 'Such is Life', where he spoke extensively about his struggles with drug addiction during his career.
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'I'm a drug addict, just flat-out. Yeah, I was drug-f**ked,' Cousins said.
'It was fast, it was good. They were good times. Alcohol wasn't the big thing for me at the time. It was all about drugs for me.
'I wouldn't have butter on my toast, let alone a truck load of beer... (but) I'd take drugs and I would train and f***king train and obsess and play good footy.
'I knew that at the end of that one week block, two week block or sometimes on the month, I would start to absolutely annihilate and launch into as much drugs as I could.'
Such Is Life remains one of the most watched documentaries in Australian TV history.
Cousins (pictured with former partner Maylea Tinecheff) has broken his silence about his downfall
In January 2018, Cousins was released from prison after serving 10 months of the one-year sentence for breaching a restraining order taken out by his former partner Maylea Tinecheff.
He was offered a job working with his former club the West Coast Eagles in a 'community and game development' role but left departed the role within months after reportedly failing to turn up for work on multiple occasions.
He was back in jail months later following charges of drug possession, making threats and breaking a violence restraining order.
He spent eight months in jail until his release on bail last April.
Cousins was in March fined $1,750 for possessing meth and hiding it up his anus.
He told Daily Mail Australia last July he was trying to rebuild his life and relationships with his two young children.
'I'm good mate, really good,' Cousins said at the time.
'I'm just enjoying a nice day with my kids.'
Cousins (pictured outside court in 2017) has spent several stints in jail since his retirement
Ben Cousins (pictured with former partner) has opened up about his battle with drug addiction
Two charges of stalking and threatening to harm his former partner Ms Tinecheff were later dropped.
Cousins pleaded guilty to the remaining 12 offences of breaching a violence restraining order and was sentenced to eight months in prison, which he had already served.
Cousins played 238 games and booted 205 goals for the West Coast Eagles, where he won a premiership with the club in 2006.
He was later sacked by the club and copped a one year ban from the AFL.
The Richmond Tigers gave Cousins a second chance in 2009, where he played 32 more games and 12 more goals before he retired in 2010.
'I'll always regret what I've put my family through. There's a lot of shame and regret. People wonder why I haven't broken down or shed a tear (in public). My tears are something that I hold close to me; they're for me and my family,' Cousins said at his retirement announcement.
Ben Cousins (pictured playing for the West Coast Eagles in 2005) was once one of the biggest superstars in the AFL before his dramatic downfall
THE TROUBLED LIFE AND TIMES OF BEN COUSINS:
1996 - Makes AFL debut with West Coast and is named the league's Rising Star
2001 - Named club captain of West Coast at age 23
2002 - Breaks his arm falling down a flight of stairs at a nightclub months after punching his teammate Daniel Kerr
2005 - (May) Is quizzed by police about association with underworld identities
- (September) Wins Brownlow medal as the AFL's best and fairest player
Cousins after the 2006 AFL Grand Final
2006 - (February) Swims across a Perth river to escape a booze bus
- (September) Wins AFL premiership with the Eagles
- (December) Is arrested after passing out in front of Melbourne's Crown Casino and spends four hours in jail
2007 - (March) Suspended by West Coast after missing training session
- (April) Goes to a drug rehabilitation facility in the US
- (October) Revealed to have visited fellow Eagles legend Chris Mainwaring twice on the night he died of a drug overdose
- (October) Arrested and charged with drug offences that are later dropped
- (November) Eventually sacked by West Coast and banned from the AFL for one year
2008 - AFL re-registers Cousins and he is signed by Richmond
2010 - Retires from the AFL but releases autobiography and documentary
Cousins has been charged with drug possession and refusing a drug test in 2007, but the charges were later dropped
2015 - Arrested three times before leading police on a slow-speed car chase
2016 - (June) Spotted behaving erratically and directing traffic on a highway
- (October) In and out of court over drug offences and breaches a restraining order taken out by his ex-partner
2017 - Jailed for one year for breaching restraining order by calling his ex-lover thousands of times
2018 - (January) Released from jail on parole just 10 months into his sentence
He takes up a community support role with the West Coast Eagles - a requirement of his parole conditions
- (May): Reports emerge he hasn't been seen at the club for a month
The club confirms the he told officials in April he no longer wanted the job
- (August) Arrested and charged with drug possession and breaching a restraining order
2019 - (February) He was fined $1,750 for possessing meth and hiding it up his anus while in jail
(March) Cousins pleaded not guilty to 14 offences in court, including breaching a family violence restraining order and a count each of aggravated stalking and threatening to injure, endanger or harm
(April) Cousins is released from jail on bail after eight months inside.
