A builder who was given just months to live after a 15-year battle with alcohol is set to star in a new TV property programme.

Chris Rees of Llannor, near Pwllheli, who at one point was living on the streets, has completely turned his life around by ditching the booze, getting married – and even running a 50-mile ultra marathon earlier this year.

Now Chris will appear as a contestant on Ty am Ddim, a new programme, sponsored by auction finance experts, Together.

It involves two strangers teaming up to buy homes at auction, before carrying out major refurbishments and ‘flipping’ or reselling the property within six months - and keeping any profits.

The first programme in the eight-part S4C series aired last Thursday, 31 October.

Chris, 45, said: “I thought this would be a new challenge that I could get my teeth into. I’m a builder by trade, so I have the experience. I saw the advert which said the producers were looking for someone who would work hard renovating a property for six months and thought ‘this is right up my alley’.”

He’s come a long way since the dark days of his alcoholism, which saw Chris drinking up to 400 units a week, equivalent to 19 pints of strong lager or five and a half bottles a wine every day.

At his worst Chris weighed just six stone and was in and out of hospital – downing pints of lager each time he was discharged. He lost his home and, unable to stay with his parents because of his drinking, found himself couch surfing at friends’ houses or sleeping rough in boat yards where he’d drink himself into an alcoholic slumber.

As a result of his illness, the father-of-one developed blood cancer and pancreatitis and was on 80 different prescription drugs including the strong pain killers Morphine and Tramadol. He also has to inject daily doses of insulin to control his type 1 diabetes.

For his latest challenge in Ty am Ddim, he’s teamed up with fellow competitor, Luke Philips, 22, from Caernarfon who works at a builders’ merchant, and hopes to put any profit he makes into a deposit for his own home.

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