Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock on his ‘terrifying’ weight problem: ‘I’d take a taxi 400 yards to the racecourse’

‘I had to save my own life, really. Stop being that bloke or I’d be dead’

Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock has called for a ban on smoking in Scotland (Nick Ansell/PA) (PA Archive)

Former footballer Neil Ruddock has opened up on his struggles with his weight and his ‘Razor’ persona which he admits “nearly killed” him and left him unable to make even basic journeys.

Ruddock, now 56, played for the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton and West Ham during his career which lasted from 1986 until 2002 making more than 460 appearances at club level and scoring 42 goals.

He also earned one cap for England when Terry Venables picked him to play in a friendly against Nigeria in November 1994.

However, his career perhaps never reached its full potential due to his off-field habits and lifestyle, which was common among players of that era and was arguably played up by Ruddock thanks to the ‘Razor’ nickname.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Ruddock said that his diet, which was a heavy rotation of drinking and takeaways had to stop in order to save his own life.

“I had to save my own life, really. Stop being that bloke or I’d be dead. Simple as that,” said Ruddock, who is currently promoting his new book, Toxic.

During the Covid-pandemic, Ruddock saw his weight balloon to around 27st putting his health at serious risk. He has since dropped 11st.

Ruddock recently told The Times, that he decided to lose weight after meeting The Only Way is Essex star James Argent, who had lost 13st after having a gastric band fitted and decided to follow suit.

Not only did his weight cause him health problems during this period, it also impacted his way of life. “We live in a three-storey townhouse and I didn’t go upstairs to the top floor for three years, too much hard work,” recalls the ex-footballer who started his career at Millwall.

He also says that he once called a taxi to drive him 400 yards uphill to a train station so he could go to Chester Races. Ruddock explained that he would tell people his knee for the problems he was having but added: “I knew I’d collapse if I tried. Secretly I was terrified.”

Ruddock has since forged a career in reality TV, starring in I’m A Celebrity, Celebrity Big Brother and Celebrity MasterChef but an appearance in Harry’s Heroes made him “realise how low I’d got”.

The show revolved around Harry Redknapp coaching a team of former England players for one last match against a team of German legends. Aside from Ruddock other players involved in the documentary included David Seaman, John Barnes, Matt Le Tissier, Robbie Fowler and Paul Merson.

A furious row between Ruddock and Merson, who has struggled with his own addiction problems, was captured on the show, with the latter trying to advise the defender on how to improve his life. Trying to prove a point Ruddock joined training the next day, promptly collapsed and was rushed to hospital.

Neil Ruddock and Jaime Redknapp after winning the 1994 League Cup (Getty Images)

“Merse was trying to give me advice,” Ruddock told The Telegraph. “But it was a bad time, I’d got a hangover, I was feeling low, and I went off on one. At the time I thought I was right. How wrong I was.”

Ruddock goes on to say that he now enjoys family life and cooking every day but despite ditching his old way of life, doesn’t mind if his old nickname still crops up.

“It’s not like I’m a split personality. I don’t worry if people call me Razor still. But I know I just can’t be him anymore,” he says.