James Hooper has broken his silence on the night that blew up his high-profile rugby league media career.
The former Fox Sports personality has admitted he was ‘blackout drunk’ when he crashed his ute into three parked cars and fled the scene on July 31 last year.
Speaking on the Fanatics TV podcast, he said he was five times over the legal limit and concedes he deserved to be sacked.
In a raw and unfiltered interview, Hooper declared: ‘I’m an alcoholic every day of the week.’
Since the crash, he has attended 90 AA meetings in 90 days, worked with the homeless and taken on manual labour to repay debts.
Now, the 47-year-old is attempting to rebuild his life – one shift, one meeting and one day at a time.
The night that ended his career
James Hooper opens up on fleeing crash scene, losing career and starting again with AA
Hooper did not attempt to soften what happened on July 31.
‘I made a very bad decision. Got blind drunk, crashed my ute into three parked cars, was five times over the legal limit,’ he said.
‘That night I had a lot going on in my personal life at the time.
‘The night before that night, I drunk a bottle of bourbon at home by myself.
‘I was in a pretty bad place and I thought the bottom of a bottle of bourbon had all the answers. I’ve since discovered it doesn’t.
‘I proceeded to get that blind that I got blackout drunk. I don’t remember being behind the wheel of my ute that night. I don’t remember crashing into the cars.
‘When you’re that out of control and you get behind the wheel of a vehicle, well, you’re putting other lives at risk as well.
‘Like someone could have died. Absolutely. I might not be sitting here talking to you now, if something worse had happened.’
‘[It was] complete carnage.’
The following morning, the reality set in.
‘I woke up the next morning and I dead set thought it was a bad dream,’ he said.
‘When I saw that my ute wasn’t there, I went, ‘Oh, f*** That wasn’t a bad dream. This is real life now.’
‘Immediately I knew I was going to be sacked and rightly so. I deserved to be sacked.
‘It was reckless. It was stupid and it hurt me a lot. So I got my receipt.
‘I just knew they were the cards that I dealt myself. Nobody else dealt them. I dealt them. It was my decision.’
Fleeing, returning, and accepting responsibility
He admits he was blackout drunk and does not remember being behind the wheel
Hooper also admitted he fled the scene before coming back.
‘Yeah, it’s on CCTV. I’ve fled the vehicle blind drunk,’ he said.
‘I do vaguely remember saying to the police when they rocked up, ‘Boys, you got me I’m blind.
‘I came back to the scene of the accident. I knew that I’d stuffed up. I knew I’d done the wrong thing.’
‘I knew I needed to take ownership and responsibility for it. So, that’s why I went back.’
The consequences followed quickly.
‘It was only a matter of hours. Wasn’t very long. I left them with no choice but to sack me,’ Hooper said.
And then there were the financial penalties from his night of carnage.
‘I didn’t even bother ringing the insurance companies. I knew that was straight up in smoke, like my career.’
‘I think it was about 75 large from from memory. I’m in enormous debt. It’s been tough.’
The family fallout
He says the hardest conversations were at home.
‘My wife deserves 10 Olympic gold medals because she just, you know, clipped me around the ear,’ he said.
‘Basically says words to the effect of, ‘You’re a bloody idiot.’
‘I carried a lot of guilt, shame and remorse. I felt as though I’d lost the right to earn a living working in the media.’
The admission: ‘I’m an alcoholic’
Hooper says he deserved to be sacked and takes full responsibility for the crash
Hooper was blunt about the root cause.
‘I’m an alcoholic every day of the week. I’m well aware of it. I’ve got alcoholism littered through my family tree on both sides,’ he said.
‘Certainly for me, it was daily drinking, mate. I’d become a daily drinker. My drinking progressed.
‘I’d be stashing them and throwing them out before my missus could see them or kids could see them.’
He said there had been warning signs before.
‘I let the grog win. I let the grog take over,’ he said.
‘Made the executive decision that it’d be a good idea to go straight for a schooner and never regained control of the helicopter from there.
‘By the Thursday I was liquorice allsorts. I didn’t know if I was Arthur or Martha.
‘That was the beginning of my downward spiral chimes to be perfectly straight up about it.’
The turning point: AA and getting help
The former Fox Sports presenter completed 90 AA meetings in 90 days after the incident
In the lead-up to his court appearance, Hooper says he was told doing nothing was not an option.
‘She [his wife] put the size 15 straight up the salmon and said, ‘No, you’re not doing that [having a drink]. You need to go to AA immediately,’ he said.
‘You’re going to 90 AA meetings in 90 days consecutive. Don’t miss one. Don’t miss one.’
But that wasn’t all.
‘She also said, ‘You got to go and do community service in Walu. There’s a setup called the Street Buffet where they feed and clothe the homeless every Sunday.’
‘So I went and did that every week leading up the court.’
Hooper admits part of it was about demonstrating remorse – but it was also about perspective.
‘I think it’s a bit of both. You can do bugger all before you go to court. It’s the individual’s decision.
‘If you actually want to try and show that you have you realize you’ve made a genuine massive f*** up and you you have also tried to take steps to alter the road that you were on, then they’ll take that into account.’
Starting again in a very humble job
Hooper also volunteered feeding and clothing the homeless before his court appearance
With his media career gone and his licence suspended, Hooper says he went back to manual labour.
‘So, the day after court, I walked into John Bull Removals and Storage at Mona Vale,’ he said.
‘[I said] I crushed my ute into three parked vehicles. I’m on an 18-month good behaviour bond. I’ll work hard if you give me a go. I’ll I’ll have a crack.’
‘I had no other alternative … I just had to accept it. It’s a tough gig, but it’s an honest gig. I’m still on the tools. So I’ll start tomorrow morning at 7:00am again.
‘I enjoyed the simplicity of going to work, ripping in, um, earning an honest dollar, and when you knock off, you’re knocked off.
‘I haven’t had an email account for six months, which has been a breath of fresh air.’
A warning to others
Now, Hooper says the biggest message he wants to send is about drink-driving.
‘Don’t f***ing do it. You’re a bloody idiot,’ he said.
‘To not even … remember being behind the wheel of that ute. That’s shocking, you know, that’s so f***ing dangerous.
‘There’s always so many different safer alternatives. It’s not just about you. It’s about everyone else as well.
‘So, just don’t do it. It’s pretty simple.’
A second chance in rugby league
After months away, Hooper is preparing to return to the game via a new podcast venture.
‘The first bloke who has thrown me a life vest, and I’m very grateful for that, is Warren Livingston,’ he said.
‘He’s also offered me an opportunity to come back and do something called Rugby League Insider.’
Whether it becomes a full-scale comeback remains uncertain – but for now, Hooper says he’s taking it one day at a time.
‘There’s not a day goes by that I don’t regret my decision that night. It’s changed my life irreversibly. I accept that.’