PAUL GASCOIGNE has reflected on the night he beat ex-wife “black and blue” at a luxury Scots hotel.
The Rangers legend head butted then-partner Sheryl and shoved her during an incident at Gleneagles Hotel near Perth in 1996, just months after their wedding.
The England icon is releasing a new book, which is being serialised by the Daily Mail.
In it he admits that he felt from the moment he uttered his vows to Sheryl that their marriage was a MISTAKE.
And three months into the marriage, Gascoigne – who was a Rangers player at the time – attacked Sheryl in an episode which he says has “cast a shadow” over the rest of his life.
The couple were on a short break with Sheryl at the luxurious Gleneagles Hotel.
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And things turned violent when an argument between the pair at dinner continued into their room.
Within a few days, images of Sheryl leaving the hotel bandaged up were on the front page of the Daily Mirror, with the headline ‘GAZZA BEATS SHERYL BLACK AND BLUE‘.
Gascoigne said: “Just three months into our marriage, in October 1996, the disharmony between us erupted into a terrible episode I will regret for the rest of my life. We were on a break at The Gleneagles Hotel close to Perth with the kids. I started to argue with Sheryl over something stupid while we were in the restaurant.
“She went upstairs to the room, and I followed her there and put my head against hers. Instinctively, I pushed her away from me, throwing her to the floor. ‘F*** off,’ I told her. As she landed she hurt her hand, and cried out in agony. I knew I’d truly messed up and once she’d calmed down, I left. There was nothing left for me to do or say.
“A few days later, the headline on the Daily Mirror’s front page read ‘GAZZA BEATS SHERYL BLACK AND BLUE’, and there were pictures of Sheryl outside the hotel, with her arm in a sling.
“It’s only fair I mention that Sheryl’s recollection of what happened is very different from my own. Regardless, I will always be sorry for the pain I caused Sheryl that night, and I am sure a lot of people will believe I fully deserved what happened next. ‘Wife beater, wife beater,’ rival fans would chant at me on the football pitch, or in the street, everywhere I went.
“Rangers came under pressure to drop me, and I was really grateful that manager Walter Smith stuck by me and I remained on the team.
“Thankfully, that season was brilliant for the club. I played in 34 games and scored 17 goals as we won the Premier Division as well as the League Cup.
“But the Gleneagles episode cast a dark shadow over my life, and things between Sheryl and I were never quite the same again, despite brief spells of reconciliation.
“The divorce finally came through and despite everything, I was devastated. It also took a huge financial strain as the settlement was £700,000 plus £10,000 a month in maintenance.
“That would become increasingly hard to find as my career began to dwindle, thanks not least to the downward spiral into alcoholism and drug addiction.”
Gazza and Sheryl would divorce in February 1999.
Their wedding cost £150,000 and was held at the plush Hanbury Manor in Hertfordshire.
Many of Gascoigne’s England teammates were present for the do in July 1996 but Gazza himself describes how exchanging vows made him realise the wedding should never have gone ahead and that he felt “trapped”.
He said: “Facing Sheryl at the altar of the chapel in front of all our family and friends, including England team-mates David Seaman, Paul Ince, Chris Waddle, Ian Wright and pals Danny Baker and Chris Evans, was terrifying.
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“The very instant we made our vows to each other, I knew I’d made a mistake.
“Straight away, I felt trapped, but it was too late. I just had to make the best of the situation and put on a brave face.”
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