James Argent has admitted that he left his friends "shocked and worried" for his safety when he suffered a relapse a fortnight ago.

The 34-year-old former TOWIE star, who is recovering from alcohol and drug addiction, was hospitalised after he fell off the wagon after two years clean and sober.

Talking to The Sun about what happened, he recalled: "I went to a comedy night with some friends in Bethnal Green, London - it was great fun, everyone was laughing, drinking and having a good time. I was having cravings again and when we went onto the afterparty in Essex I bought a round of drinks for my friends - unfortunately I gave in to temptation and had that first drink...

"After that, I can't get into the specifics of what I did, but that's where it all started and I ended up at home having an awful relapse - I'd been clean and sober for such a long time, it hit me like a ton of bricks as my body and mind hadn't been used to it for so long.

"My friends were shocked and worried about me - I wasn't myself mentally or physically and they weren't used to seeing me like that - it was a very scary and upsetting experience for everyone around me and it became vital that an ambulance was called."

Argent, who has lost 14 stone over the last year following gastric surgery, can currently be seen in E4's new reality show The Real Dirty Dancing.