Love Island winner Jack Fincham can’t pay fine after spending ‘£1,000,000 on gambling’
Fincham was recently released on bail after sentencing for dangerous dog offences.
Jack Fincham has declared ‘I’m an addict’ after admitting he’s blown over £1,000,000 on drugs, booze and gambling.
The 33-year-old won Love Island with ex-girlfriend Dani Dyer in 2018 but has now said he ‘had the world at my feet and screwed it up’.
Last month he was sentenced to six weeks in prison for dangerous dog offences and was ordered to pay a fine of £3,680.
After a court was told he had ‘no savings’ and would have to pay off the penalty in instalments, Jack was then also freed on bail within a few hours.
However, a few weeks on Jack’s now spoken about his addiction issues.
‘I feel like a failure, utterly mortified by the things I have done. I had the world at my feet, and I screwed it up,’ he said.
He declared ‘I’m an addict’ in a recent interview (Picture: Jonathan Hordle/ Rex/ Shutterstock)‘Embarrassed just doesn’t touch it. It is hideous. I cry when I think about how I’ve let people down.
‘I have blown more than a million pounds thanks to drugs, booze and gambling,’ he said when speaking to The Sun.
Jack went on to point to his drug use as ‘helping’ his relationship with Dani fail, explaining how his ‘priorities were wrong’ and he ‘wasn’t a great boyfriend’.
‘There are times I wish I’d never been in the public eye and just stayed exactly as I was. Destruction was always in me, but fame and money made it happen quicker,’ he added.
Detailing his drug use, Jack said he was forced into rehab in 2020 by his mum after developing an addiction to anti-anxiety drug Xanax, which he took after cocaine to ‘help me sleep’.
Jack now estimates he’d spent up to £800 on cocaine on a night out and would sometimes take ‘up to 10 pills’ of Xanax a day.
He won Love Island in 2018 with ex-girlfriend Dani Dyer (Picture: Stuart C. Wilson/ Getty Images)‘They’re more addictive than heroin. I had withdrawal seizures, my body was jolting, insomnia that went on for days. I ended up in psychosis because I hadn’t slept. My body felt possessed. One night I woke up, went outside into someone’s driveway and took a kid’s trike,’ he recalled.
He was also battling a gambling addiction and would spend up to £5,000 at a time playing Blackjack.
Last year he also attempted suicide while staying at a hotel and believing nothing in his life was ‘salvageable’.
However, he is now turning his life around and has plans to marry his girlfriend, Towie star Chloe Brockett, 24.
Jack has said he ‘needs to change before it’s too late’, adding: ‘If I don’t, I could die.’
He is now back to selling stationery – a job he had before Love Island – and is also studying financial trading, admitting he was now ‘worst off financially’ than before appearing on the ITV reality series.
Jack is now dating The Only Way Is Essex star Cleo Brockett (Picture: Click News and Media)Last month Jack was sentenced to six weeks in prison for dangerous dog offences, and was ordered to pay a fine of £3,680.
He was then freed on bail, with it understood that wass pending the outcome of an appeal to the ruling. Bail is granted ahead of an appeal in exceptional circumstances.
The Love Island winner was in court after his pet – a black Cane Corso called Elvis – bit runner Robert Sudell in Swanley, Kent during September 2022.
He pleaded guilty to the charge at Southend-on-Sea Magistrates’ Court on January 29.
Jack also faced two counts of being in charge of a dangerously out-of-control dog.
His financial penalty included a £2,000 contribution to kennelling costs, a fine of £961 and £200 compensation to Sudell.
The couple shared a kiss during a day out earlier this month (Picture: Click News and Media) They appeared to be in good spirits (Picture: Click News and Media) The pair have been in an on-off relationship since 2019 (Picture: Click News and Media)His lawyer Richard Cooper said the defendant ‘has no savings’ and but that Jack could pay in installments, initially at £400 per month.
In court Jack was supported by his brother and partner.
Chloe, who found fame on The Only Way is Essex, began to cry when the verdict was given. On January 28, the couple shared a post on Instagram about their time spent at luxury hotel Champney Spas with Chloe sharing they had the ‘best time’.
Jack gave a thumbs up as he was led to the cells and hours after the sentencing, he was released. Later that day, he was spotted walking with Chloe – the pair were holding hands and pausing for kisses.
The pair have continued taking advantage of his release today and were seen together at a petrol station.
A smiling Chloe wrapped up warm in a black puffer jacket, while Jack chose a tracksuit in the same hue for the outing. He finished the look with a baseball cap.
Jack recently spent a few hours in jail (Picture: Steve Finn Photography)At the court case, prosecutor Erin Peck said that Sudell had accepted an apology from Jack, who was going to be cautioned. He was also set to participate in a responsible dog ownership course.
She said conditions were made including that his dog must be muzzled, but in June last year there was a second incident in Grays, Essex when his dog was out of control and he was later charged. No injury was reported on that occasion.
Presiding magistrate Anne Wade, sentencing, said that Jack was subject to a suspended sentence order at the time of the incident. The order, for an unrelated driving matter, was of 12 weeks custody suspended for 18 months.
Ms Wade said this order would be activated in part, adding that ‘we find no reason not to do so’, and jailed Jack for six weeks.
‘The dog was in a public place not abiding by the conditions to be muzzled and kept on a lead,’ she said.
She made an order that the dog must be muzzled in public places, be kept on a lead and not be left alone with anyone under the age of 16.
Speaking afterwards, Sergeant Alex Watkins said: ‘Owners have to take responsibility for their dogs, and on these occasions this dog was dangerously out of control.
Chloe became teary after the verdict (Picture: Instagram/ Chloe Brockett)‘On both occasions the owner was given a chance to rectify their behaviour with words of advice and a conditional caution – however failed to do so, resulting in this sentencing.
‘I thank both victims for their courage during this investigation.’
In 2023, Jack was arrested for drug-driving and having false number plates.
The case went to court in March 2024, and Jack admitted to not having third party insurance, driving with a controlled drug above the specified limit, driving without due care and attention, and fraudulently using a registration.
He was spared jail but given a 12-week suspended sentence, which was reduced from 16 weeks due to his early admission.
Judge Dr Brody said: ‘It was extremely lucky that there no accident.
‘I am happy to suspend the sentence due to the confirmation that Mr Fincham has stopped taking drugs and drinking and that he is also a professional boxer who runs his own business.’
In October, Jack posted a picture with his pet canine and wrote: ‘My best friend in the whole world . ????. ????. Have a story to tell you very soon. Sometimes I think this country is done honestly.’
The cane corso, an Italian mastiff breed, is traditionally used as a guard dog and can weigh up to 50kg (8st).
The breed is becoming more popular than ever before, with footballer Marcus Rashford also being an owner. However, it’s been claimed that the UK’s ban on XL bullies has led to increased interest in this alternative breed.
After winning Love Island with Dani, the pair remained together for nine months after the finale. He has also went on to appear on on Towie, Celebs Go Dating, The All New Monty: Who Bares Wins and Don’t Rock the Boat.
A version of this article was first published on January 29, 2025.
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