Derryn Hinch admitted he has fallen off the wagon after his ex-girlfriend Natasha Chadwick exposed his drinking habits five years after his lifesaving liver transplant. Photo / Natasha Chadwick
Derryn Hinch admitted he has fallen off the wagon after his ex-girlfriend Natasha Chadwick exposed his drinking habits five years after his lifesaving liver transplant. Photo / Natasha Chadwick
Derryn Hinch admitted he has fallen off the wagon after his ex-girlfriend exposed his drinking habits five years after his lifesaving liver transplant.
The New Zealand-born senator and broadcaster, 72, was outed on Twitter by his former flame Natasha Chadwick, 36, who shamed Senator Hinch for disregarding the vow he made to stop drinking after his alcoholism almost took his life, the Herald Sun reported.
"Derryn Hinch has been back on booze 12+ months. So much for respecting organ donors gift of life. Fave wine, cheap Gossips. No loyalty," she posted on Sunday.
Following the revelation, Hinch conceded he had enjoyed a tipple since receiving Heath Gardner's liver, but clarified that it was watered down and he had sought his surgeon's permission before doing so, the Herald Sun reported.
"I've had the odd glass of wine, perhaps one-third wine and two-thirds water, with Natasha at birthdays and at events like Christmas," he said.
But Chadwick, who spent two years with Hinch, said they recently shared a wine and she had seen him drink a light beer on the night of his maiden speech, where he humbly acknowledged the sacrifice his donor's had family made to save his life.
Drinking once receiving a liver transplant is considered "contraindications" and recipients are advised to abstain permanently from alcohol after the surgery, according to the Transplant Society of Australia and New Zealand.
Derryn Hinch required the transplant after his alcoholism caused him to develop advanced cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Hinch required the transplant after his alcoholism caused him to develop advanced cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Chadwick, who now lives in New Zealand, said Hinch followed protocol and stuck to non-alcoholic beer and wine after the surgery but had started adding alcohol to his drinks after their dramatic break up in March.
"Since then he's been back on it regularly, starting the day with non-alcoholic beer for breakfast, then moving to his Edenvale non-alcoholic wine and then moving on to harder stuff," a source told the Herald Sun.
"He's even spent an afternoon at a pub in Redfern in Sydney and come home stinking of alcohol," they added.
She posted 37 loved-up photographs of their relationship to social media following their 2015 break up. Photo / Natasha Chadwick Facebook
The television producer stood by Hinch when he served 50 days in prison at the beginning of 2014 for refusing to pay a fine "on principle" he incurred after breaching a suppression order about the killer of Melbourne woman Jill Meagher.
She posted 37 loved-up photographs of their relationship to social media following their 2015 break up along with a warm message acknowledging their time together.
"A look back at some highlights and low points of the last two years with the beautiful DH," she wrote, adding she was "devastated" but ready to rebuild her life.
But her support appears to have turned to disdain, with the 36-year-old posting a cryptic tweet on Monday night making another reference to "loyalty", as she did on Sunday when revealing Hinch's drinking habits.
"Loyalty is a two way street. Treat people the way you like to be treated & don't mistake kindness for weakness," she wrote alongside an image that said: "There's something wrong with your character if 'opportunity' controls your loyalty."
Ms Chadwick has not commented on Hinch's drinking habits since posting the tweets.
