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Mitchell Pearce has opened up in detail about how a two-day bender with his fellow former NRL bad boy Todd Carney made him become a teetotaller.
The former Roosters and Knights star was known for his off-field controversies just as much as his on-field triumphs during a career that saw him star in 309 NRL matches from 2007 to 2021 before finishing his playing days in France.
Most infamously, he simulated sex with a dog in an incident that was captured on video in January 2016 and led to him undergoing a stint in rehab.
In December 2020, his wedding to Kristin Scott was called off after he sent flirty texts to a staffer at Newcastle, where he was the skipper at the time.
Now Pearce has revealed the moment in 2022 that made him finally get off the grog.
‘Over two days on the Gold Coast, I’d had a very big drinking session with my great mate Todd Carney,’ he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Mitchell Pearce is pictured with his wife Lila and their daughter Aliya. He has gone from an infamous NRL bad boy to a teetotal devout Muslim as he continues his new life in France
A two-day drinking session with his great mate and fellow NRL controversy magnet Todd Carney (pictured together) changed Pearce forever
‘I was just so tired and burnt out, something from above sort of changed me and made me realise that I’d just had enough of this, and all this shame and guilt and a lot of emotions were coming up.
‘I decided to stop straight after the blowout.
‘The next day, Todd and I didn’t say a word to each other. We just sat there over dinner, and there was some darkness. I knew it was time to stop.
‘I’d made a few phone calls the night before when I was intoxicated and not feeling great.
‘I’d made similar commitments to stop – you say all the right things and talk about making change – but this was the day. It was different.
‘It was just a really weird feeling. It was basically looking at yourself in the mirror and thinking, “What am I doing? Do I really want to keep being this person, underachieving, being a bit loose, and being single, and not having children?”
‘It was something deeper than I’d ever felt before … I went back to France with a very clear head, and everything got better.’
Pearce met his wife Lila when he returned to Europe, and the couple now have a daughter, Aliya.
Pearce was due to marry former professional dancer Kristin Scott (pictured together) in 2020 before a sexting scandal ended their relationship
The 37-year-old won a premiership with the Sydney Roosters but also found plenty of trouble off the field before swearing off the grog
Lila – whose father’s side of the family hails from Algeria – is Muslim, but the former footy star insists she didn’t convert him to the faith that’s now a huge part of his life.
‘I feel like you get chosen when the time’s right,’ said Pearce, who explained that he’s ‘always been a spiritual person’.
‘The Islamic faith was really clean. It was well organised. It’s a great routine, you know?
‘A lot of my friends in France are Muslim – Arabic friends – and I just love the way they live their life. They’re really clean.
‘It’s a clean lifestyle, and it gets a lot of bad raps, like all religions.
‘I do my prayers every day … my prayers give me peace, and for me, that’s what life’s about.’
Asked about his baby daughter, who was born in Perpignan nine months ago, Pearce lit up.
‘She’s also changed my life, it’s the best thing ever,’ he said.
‘Every day just gets better, and there’s no love like it … Lila’s been a beautiful mum.’
