Former The Only Way Is Essex star James 'Arg' Argent has admitted that he was tricked into checking into rehab by two friends who told him they were taking him for a Toby Carvery.

Earlier this week the 32-year-old revealed that he has been a cocaine addict for seven years and suffered two near-fatal overdoses in 2019.

At Christmas Arg hit rock bottom and decided to check himself into a rehab facility in Thailand, but has now recalled a previously-unsuccessful intervention from two friends.

"I got a knock at the door and two well respected people came into my house and said 'get yourself in the shower, we're going out for some lunch' and they weren't taking no for an answer," Arg told The Sun. "They're the type of people you don't say no to or mess with.

"So I've got in the car and they said: 'We're going to take you to the Toby Carvery' but I soon realised that's not where we were going.

"They drove me to the middle of nowhere near Wales. I was like: 'What are we doing here?' then I started clocking and I knew they were taking me to a rehab. They dropped me off but I wasn't ready."

Arg added that he stayed in the facility for just one night, taking a train back to Essex the following morning, but is now determined to stay sober after spending the first two and a half months of this year convalescing in Thailand.