KIRSTY Gallacher has laid bare the "trauma" of her split from her rugby star ex, admitting she was a "wreck" and "skinny as a rake" in the aftermath.

The former Sky Sports host, 47, opened up to fellow sports broadcaster and pal Gabby Logan, 49, on Gabby's podcast, Mid Point.

Kirsty divorced former sports ace Paul Sampson in 2015, after 15 years together.

Two years later, Kirsty hit “rock bottom” when she was caught driving three times over the alcohol limit in 2017.

The pair share two kids and back in 2020, Kirsty bravely revealed how their split had caused her PTSD.

Now she has opened up on her mental and physical state during her stint on Strictly Come Dancing, which came in the same year as her bitter divorce.

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She candidly told Freeze the Fear star Gabby: "I was a wreck. I was skinny as rake. I was running on empty, running from dance rehearsals with the lovely Brendan Cole to Sky Sports to rehearsals at night.

"It was more than exhausting, emotionally, physically.

"There was nothing negative about the show apart from me being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was like a cauldron of emotion."

Opening up on collapsing during a her segment on Sky Sports, she continued to confess: "

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'I had a breakdown. I didn't cope very well after that. I kept going for so long.

"I had a virus, but I was also having a breakdown. I know what was going on in my head, I wanted to run away really. I was just in pain."

The former golden couple met in 1999, shortly after Paul won his first England cap and she had just been named as the glamorous new face of Sky Sports news.

They married in 2010 in a lavish £50,000 ceremony in Spain’s Arcos De La Frontera.

Knowing all too well the pain of a marriage breakdown, Kirsty was this week said to be an anchor for Paddy McGuinness to "lean on" during his split with wife Christine.

The I Can See Your Voice host and model Christine announced in July 2022 they would be going their separate ways after 11 years of marriage. 

As Paddy tries to navigate his newfound single life, he has reportedly turned to his longtime friend Kirsty, who's previously dealt with public divorce herself. 

A source has now told OK! Magazine that presenting pair Kirsty and Paddy have "known each other a long time and have a lot in common." 

"They’re both single and have gone through marriage splits," they said. "Kirsty is a bit of a shoulder for him to lean on and she’s good at giving advice." 

Yet she explained in the podcast about the dangers of moving on too quickly.

She told Gaby: "You want to meet someone else quickly to fill the void. I'd been with Sampso for a long time, two kids they're my life. Suddenly I was like I'm on my own.

'It was just awful. I'm still not great on my own. The person I look back at makes me very sad.

'I was dating the wrong people. I was on the floor [at the end of my relationship]. It's taken me a long time to build myself up."

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'I was horrible to myself. I was sad. I felt I didn't mean anything. I know I went through trauma and it's taken a while to build up, back where I am.'

Yet in happier news, Kirsty now said she feels ready to dabble in dating again.

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