Billy Connolly reveals his son's battle with addiction

Billy Connolly attends the New York City Tartan Day Parade. The comedian revealed his son's battle with addiction during an episode of his Great American Trail series. Photo / Getty Images

Comedian Billy Connolly has spoken out about his son's secret addiction to drugs and alcohol in a segment on his new ITV series.

In the final episode of Billy Connolly's Great American Trail, which screened in the UK last week, Connolly met with drug addicts at the Southern West Virginia Fellowship Home and revealed that his son Jamie, 50, had "a problem", The Scottish Sun reports.

"He's in AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and NA (Narcotics Anonymous)," Connolly said. "He told me when he went to the detox place ... some kids were being let out and they were back on the stuff before they got to the railway station. It's so powerful.

"People who don't know about it say 'why do they take it, just say no'. 'Just stop and you'll be better'. Duh. It's extraordinary."

Connolly told the staff and the addicts receiving treatment at the centre that they were doing "grand work" and said discussions on America's opioid crisis tended to focus on the 90,000 people who had died from their addictions over the past two years.

"They never talk about this, about people pulling themselves up and getting on with it."

Jamie is Connolly's eldest child, from his first marriage to Iris Pressagh. The comedian also has a daughter from that marriage and three daughters with his current wife, New Zealand-born psychologist and writer Pamela Stephenson.

The three-part Great American Trail documentary sees Connolly, 76, retracing some of the migratory paths taken by the millions of Scots who emigrated to the United States during the 18th century.