Television chef Gizzi Erskine has revealed she got pregnant while taking drugs at age 19 and was spiked with heroin by a burglar during her teenage years.
The 47-year-old broadcaster shared a photo of herself as a teenager on social media while reflecting on a series of traumatic events, stating that she wanted to speak out after feeling combustible alongside many other women.
In her social media post, Erskine detailed how someone spiked her with heroin while robbing her mother's house. She also disclosed that she dated a man 12 years her senior for a year and a half, noting that at her age the relationship constituted statutory rape.
She further revealed that another man got her pregnant after she took ketamine and ended up in a dissociative state known as a K hole.
Writing about the photo from her youth, Erskine asked followers whether she looked her age in the image taken when she was 19. "Do I look my age? I was 19 here. I thought I was all grown up and wanted to do the grown up things," she wrote. She added: "I'm asking because I thought I was very in charge of myself. Here I was only just 19 and I had had several really bats*** things happen to me."
Erskine emphasized that these incidents were not even the worst events to have happened to her. "I am not saying I was not responsible for some part in these things, but this girl is still a baby. Look at her," she wrote, adding: "Like many women this week I am combustible and honestly. I remember feeling like I was one of the lucky ones."
Family background and television career
Erskine is the daughter of Iain Maxwell Erskine, the 2nd Baron Erskine of Rerrick, and model and actress Maria Josephine. The Erskine title is a hereditary barony created in the UK peerage in 1964.
She first rose to public prominence as a chef before presenting two series of the Channel 4 cookery program Cook Yourself Thin, which focused on lower-calorie meal alternatives. She currently co-hosts the television series Drop Down Menu alongside fellow chef Matt Tebbutt and hosts her own podcast, Messy Lunch.
Past struggles with addiction and mental health
In an interview earlier this year, Erskine previously opened up about her history of drug abuse, admitting that she went off the rails for several years during her youth. She described turning her mother's flat into a squat while out partying every night.
Erskine, who has been diagnosed with ADHD, a neurodevelopmental condition affecting attention and impulse control, also spoke about severe mental health struggles that led to two major crises in 2018 and 2022.
Following those crises, she sought specialized treatment in Mexico that included a huge amount of magic mushrooms. Psychedelic treatment involving psilocybin mushrooms has gained clinical attention in recent years for its potential therapeutic effects on mood disorders and trauma.
Reflecting on her treatment, Erskine told The Sunday Times that her prescribed ADHD medication had kept her in a manic state. "The ADHD meds kept me manic so I've been on cyclothymic medication for three years now and everything is going well for me. They calm the mania," she explained, adding: "Rock bottom was about three months before Mexico, and it was my fault because I got into so much debt."
Erskine explained that she no longer takes drugs, but admitted: "I drink alcohol and I take mushrooms. I think that's called 'LA clean' and I feel amazing at the moment."
She told the newspaper that losing her home and savings after a 20-year career allowed her to start again, adding: "I've never felt like this and that comes down to going through the horrible experience of losing your house and all your money that I'd built over a 20-year career. It's allowed me to start again."
Engagement and relationship
Erskine has been in a relationship with musician Matt Turner for five years. The couple announced their engagement on Valentine's Day in February.
