Happy Mondays legend Bez claims cocaine was easier to quit than sugar as he reflects on his 'out of control' decades of wild partying and drug use and says he has 'no regrets'

Happy Mondays star Bez has revealed he has quit cocaine and sugar after decades of 'out of control' partying. 

The band's resident dancer and percussionist, 62, has adopted a wildly different lifestyle in recent years, enjoying idyllic days at the remote Herefordshire cottage he shares with his personal trainer wife Firouzeh Razavi, 38.

When he's not touring with the band, Bez enjoys low-key days spent juicing, tending to the vegetables he grows himself and working out with his wife. 

Shortly after Christmas he decided to give up two vices – sugar and cocaine, replacing them with intermittent fasting. 

'I had to find something else to throw myself into,' he told The Guardian. 'It was harder to give up sugar. The coke was quite easy because I only done it as a social thing.' 

Whilst he has given up most of his vices, Bez still enjoys tequila and a good party, often hosting pals at his outdoor bar and firepit, and says he has no regrets about his past behaviour, explaining 'because it wasn't me just on my own – it was a whole section of society at the time.'

'It was just normal behaviour among me and my friends.' 

He insists he's 'never had any addictions' but does say he was 'out of control' during his teenage years. By 16 he was homeless on the streets of Salford after regular clashes with his police officer dad and time spent in young offender institutions.

'I have had to apologise to my mum because I just thought it was normal, and it was far from normal. I was so out of control it was unreal, but I didn't even think it was,' he has now admitted.

After befriending Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder via the Manchester party scene, he was persuaded, whilst high on acid, to join the band on stage for a gig, where he promptly shimmied and shook some maracas and the rest was history. 

 In his 1998 biography Freaky Dancin’, Bez detailed years of his 'out of control' behaviour, recalling one 1986 gig at Manchester’s legendary nightclub The Haçienda, where he fell off the stage halfway through and cut his forehead.

He grabbed some of the lead guitarist’s liquid LSD, dripped it into the cut and dashed back out with his maracas. 

In more recent years he has won a new, younger audience thanks to his penchant for a reality TV stint. 

After winning Celebrity Big Brother back in 2005, he went on a ten-hour bender whilst he was the last one standing when the MTV Europe Music Awards came to Manchester in 2024, partying with the likes of Rita Ora until 4am. 

At the time his spokesperson said he credits his energy down to his ‘simple and healthy lifestyle’.

'He starts each day with a cleansing cold pressed juice, using his own homegrown organic vegetables, followed by a long walk with his dogs through the ancient woodland.'

Bez's 148k Instagram followers are now treated to regular videos of Bez dishing out gardening tips alongside clips of his many viral moments on Celebrity Gogglebox, where he and Ryder have become fan favourites for their uncensored commentary.