Marco Pierre White’s son has converted to Islam to help keep him from falling back into heroin use.
The celebrity chef’s son, Marco Pierre White Jr, has struggled with drug addiction since he was just 13, and has been in and out of rehab a total of 17 times.
He has now vowed to never touch drugs again after converting to Islam while in prison for offences including shoplifting, heroin possession and racially abusing a supermarket security guard.
Now newly-freed from prison, the 28-year-old, who previously appeared on Celebrity Big Brother, is being supported by his famous dad and is working to follow in his footsteps to become a chef himself.
Marco told the Mail Online that he had ‘wasted’ over £1 million to drug addiction over his life, ‘but Islam has helped me get through everything.’
His prison stint has led Marco to ‘realise how lucky I am,’ he said, as he met people from ‘all walks of life’ and aw how ‘some people don’t have a chance in life.’
‘I have had every opportunity and I have thrown them all away.
‘I could have done anything I wanted to, but instead I did heroin and ended up in prison. I have been an idiot.’
Marco does not strictly follow every rule of Islam, and still drinks alcohol, but says he prays to Allah five times a day, asking for his sins to be forgiven and for his family to be safe.
‘And everything has come true,’ he said.
Marco welcomed a baby girl, Arabella, before he went to prison, and did not allow her – or his father – to visit him inside.
I didn’t want my dad seeing me in prison. I have put him through a lot,’ he admitted.
‘I didn’t want to put him in that position.’
‘From day one he has been the biggest supporter. He has never left me even though I have been hard work and put him through a lot. Going to prison made me realise what I have put him through.’
Marco was sentenced in August 2022 at Bristol Crown Court, with prosecution telling the jury he had stolen clothes totalling £2,496 from Wadswick Country Store, with police finding him counting money in a car.
He also pleaded guilty to racially abusing a security guard at a Tesco Express in the area, prompting the store to ban him.
MORE : Marco Pierre White Jr jailed for 18 months after pleading guilty to shop thefts and racially abusing Tesco security guard: ‘He’s terrified’
MORE : Marco Pierre White admits he has no clue who Salt Bae is after viral fame: ‘I’ve never heard of him’
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