Gabrielle: 'Violent shock triggered obsession'

Pop star Gabrielle has revealed how her career was nearly destroyed by obsessive compulsive disorder.

The psychological disorder left her with a bizarre fear of going to the toilet.

Her bathroom phobia meant she refused to drink fluids when outside her own home.

Taking in so little water meant her vocal cords dehydrated to the point where she was in danger of losing the voice which made her a million-selling star.

Gabrielle, 34, told London’s Evening Standard how the psychological condition was triggered by the shock of seeing her former lover jailed for murder.

“I knew having this obsessive compulsive disorder was causing such bizarre behaviour – just thinking about drinking was enough to make me want to go to the loo – but I couldn’t fight those thoughts and I allowed them to control me,” she said.

“And what’s worse is that I knew this behaviour was potentially destroying my singing career.

“Doctors told me that my persistently sore throat, the reason I was unable to sing properly, was due to terribly dehydrated vocal cords and so ordered me to drink loads of water. But I tend to drink as little as possible so I won’t have to use other people’s loos.”

The singer, who had a number one hit with her debut single Dreams and has sold nearly seven million albums, developed obsessive compulsive disorder in 1997.

It was triggered by the horrific murder carried out by her former love Tony Antoniou.

Antoniou, the father of her son Jordan, beheaded his own stepfather with a Samurai sword.

Her condition began to develop when she learned the terrible news. It worsened when she discovered Antoniou stayed at her house while she was away, when on the run from police.

Gabrielle gave evidence at Antoniou’s trial and he was jailed for life.

At first the singer became agoraphobic and developed an obsession with hygiene, showering four times a day and repeatedly washing her hands until her palms were raw.

Like fellow sufferer Paul Gascoigne, she became unable to leave the house without going through an elaborate series of checks.

“I’d check the kitchen and the dining room in turn. I’d check the handles on the doors, and the window locks, and that the knobs on the cooker were facing the right way to check they weren’t on. And I had to do it in the right order. If I forgot one of the things I couldn’t go out until I’d done them all again,” she recalled.

Because of her phobia of visiting the toilet, she refused to accept drinks in restaurants, bars or other people’s houses.

For the first few years she was able to maintain her successful career.

But when she went into the studio to record her new album at the beginning of last year she found she could no longer sing.

Doctors diagnosed throat nodules exacerbated by lack of fluids and told her she must drink water to save her voice.

They also ordered her to rest her voice completely for six months.

She claims her psychological disorder is now under control and is currently promoting her new album and single.