Presenter and commentator Basil Zempilas recently spent a week with ex-AFL legend Ben Cousins recently with the result a confronting documentary set to air this weekend.
The former West Coast star has experienced a stunning fall from grace since his playing days after his life went off the rails due to drug addiction which landed him in jail.
Cousins featured in a documentary – Such Is Life – about his party lifestyle a decade ago but this next instalment of his life is telling a slightly different story.
Asked on SEN Breakfast how Cousins is currently living, Zempilas responded: “It’s not brilliant.
“It’s confronting, it hits you right between the eyes. This bloke had the world at his feet.
“Now, on any given night, there’s no certainty where Ben Cousins might find himself. He doesn’t sleep on the streets. He drifts around from one mates place to another over any given period.
“What he needs more than anything now is a permanent roof over his head. He’s trying to find that, he’s trying to get those things in his life. He had a bit of a win the other day when he got his driver’s license back. That gives him the opportunity to move his life forward.”
Zempilas touched a bit more on just what viewers can expect when Cousins speaks for the first time publicly since 2010.
“It’s warts and all on Sunday night. His life is a battle,” he added.
“This is the biggest fight of his life. More so than 10 years ago when he was still a celebrated figure.
“That documentary was about the party life. There seemed to be some glamour to the Ben Cousins back then.
“Now we are talking about a bloke who wants to see his kids as regularly as possible. And he needs to find somewhere to live, a job, some normality.
“It’s hard to believe we are talking about a Brownlow Medallist how was captain of the West Coast Eagles but that’s where Ben Cousins is and that’s the battle that is the Ben Cousins story.”
Ben Cousins: Coming Clean will air on Channel 7 on Sunday night around the country.
