BBC presenter Ore Oduba has revealed for the first time that he struggled with addiction to porn for 30 years, which started at the age of nine, before finally seeking help

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Ore Oduba hit rock bottom before seeking help for his 30 year addiction(Image: ITV)

Ore Oduba has revealed the ‘rock bottom’ he hit, which was the catalyst for him finally seeking help for an addiction he had suffered for 30 years in secret.

The BBC TV presenter is known to many for fronting the likes of Newsround and the Olympics. Unbeknownst to his fans, 39 year old Ore was struggling with a secret pornography addiction, after being introduced to sexualised images at the age of just nine.

Ore, who opened up for the first time this week about his addiction on Paul C Brunson’s We Need To Talk podcast, was shown a sexualised image of a video game by an older brother of a schoolfriend, which saw him become “curious”. It wasn’t long before Ore began seeing more images on TV, computers and in magazines, before it spiralled into an addiction which “isolated” him.

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Ore Oduba revealed he had been addicted to pornography for 30 years

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Ore and Portia were married for 10 years until their split in 2024(Image: (Credit too long, see caption))

However, the breakdown of his marriage to wife Portia Jett, who he shares his two children Roman, seven, and Genie, four, with saw him finally seek help.

Ore has explained to the Daily Mail: “You know, I went through a number of rock bottoms and two bereavements to be able to go, ‘I finally see what’s happening here, I want to change’. We all have the power to do that, to see that we are worth something.

“Sometimes it just starts with one conversation, and I really hope that this might be one of the conversations that people might listen to and go ‘OK. I’m going to start day one today’.”

Ore and Portia, 35, were married for 10 years before splitting in 2024. As news of Ore’s addiction spread following the release of Paul C Brunson’s podcast, Ore’s ex-wife Portia appeared to take aim at her ex in a cryptic Instagram post.

Portia posted a rare black and white photograph of herself with her two children sitting on a bench at a pumpkin patch. The apparent swipe came as Portia added Taylor Swift’s song Father Figure to the post. The lyrics in the song include discuss a partner who is “young, wayward and lost in the cold” and includes the phrases “you pulled the wrong trigger”.

Ore and Portia announced the end of their marriage on Instagram, after first meeting during their time at Loughborough University in 2010. The statement from the pair at the time read: “Hi guys. Portia and I are sad to announce that we separated earlier this year [2024.]

“We’re so grateful for all the love you’ve shared with us both over the years.

“And we want to thank you in advance for respecting our privacy as we navigated this difficult transition.

“We will be making no further comment. Be kind, always.”

Since the news of their split, Portia has moved on and went public with her new romance last month as she shared a photo of herself kissing a new man, who was later revealed to be businessman Saxon Birch, 37, who works in data management.

Portia has since shared a number of cosy snaps with Saxon, including a gushing post of her sharing selfies alongside Saxon as she gushed in the caption: “You’re my favourite plot twist… If you are still waiting for yours… trust me when I say… when you least expect it, it will happen…..”