All-Ireland winner reveals how he gambled away gay porn money in two days

All-Ireland-winning Tyrone footballer Cathal McCarron has spoken about how he appeared in a gay pornography film to pay for his gambling addiction, writes Stephen Barry.

McCarron’s autobiography, Out of Control, is set to be released next week and will tell of how he fled to London to escape from an IRA threat.

It was there that his addiction intensified, leading to him responding to an advert looking for “male models”.

Delighted to be releasing my Autobiography later this year. @chrisocfl #Simon&Schuster #Recovery pic.twitter.com/UgdVA581Lq

— Cathal McCarron (@mc_carron1) June 20, 2016

“The money was an obvious appeal, but the risk was still too great,” he told The Irish News.

“They sold it to me on the basis that they only dealt with US hotels, where the porn was exclusive to the hotels' pay-per-view channels.”

McCarron says he wasn’t in his right mind and although he was initially against being involved in gay pornography, he accepted £3,000 in cash to take part in the film.

“The only reality guiding me at the time was the desperation to feed my gambling habit.

“As we had sexual intercourse, I did everything to suppress my real emotions, to dislocate myself from the moment. All I was thinking about was the money I was going to receive afterwards.

“When the filming was over I felt physically sick, disgusted that I had allowed myself to sink into such an abyss of degradation and humiliation.

“I had sold my body. I had blackened my soul. All for just two days gambling.”

He admits to having blown around £200,000 on gambling by the age of 21, most of which had been stolen from his parents.

After attempting to steal money from a friend’s house, he received a death threat from the IRA.

“He told me that if I didn't leave, I'd be shot. He said they were coming to the house that night to carry out their threat and shoot me.

“At that stage, I wasn't sure if I had much longer left to live. I was still in tears when I got home.

“I had gone too far. I'd crossed too many lines. I was forced to leave Tyrone.”

McCarron has since returned to his native county and earned an All-Star nomination this month. He is also a trainee psychotherapist and counsellor.

“Pursuing that path is something I aspire to, but becoming so involved in counselling is as much to help me as anybody else. It keeps me right. It keeps me in the loop.”