Jeff Brazier Links Son's Struggles to Late Wife Jade Goody's Absence

Jeff Brazier has stated that the absence of his late wife, Jade Goody, is the fundamental reason behind their son Freddy's struggles with addiction and mental health.

Freddy, now 22, has been battling a cannabis addiction and severe mental health issues, including psychosis, in recent years. Brazier discussed the difficulties he faced as a father while his sons grieved the loss of their mother during an appearance on Matt Willis's podcast, 'On The Mend.'

Goody died of cervical cancer on Mother's Day in 2009, leaving behind her sons, Bobby, 23, and Freddy, who was then four years old. After Goody's death, the boys moved in with Brazier. He recalled struggling in the initial period because the boys did not outwardly express their grief.

"I was worried that in the early stages, they hadn't really done some of the things that I was expecting them to," Brazier said. "It took till maybe eight or nine months in for them to actually really fall apart. That's when I think it really began in that I recognised very quickly that I couldn't be the answer to these overgrown sort of bouts of emotion and bad behaviour."

Brazier emphasized that he never attempted to replace Goody, stating, "I try to do as much as I can, but you can never replace. I didn't ever try and replace her. And I think a lot of people maybe get it wrong when they say, 'You've been mum and dad'. I think that I feel disrespectful to Jade if I ever acknowledge that and said, 'Yeah, thank you'. I was the dad. I could only play that role."

He added, "Her void is felt on a daily basis because our family is far from perfect. We've got a lot of challenges that we still face to this day."

During the boys' childhood, Brazier found it challenging to distinguish between grief and misbehavior. "What I found really difficult is you can't make two bereaved boys talk about their mum if they're not ready to and if they don't want to. And that's really difficult for the surviving parent," he explained. "But what if they don't want to talk? What if they don't want to go to therapy? Do you instantly feel like you're failing? And what that shouldn't then inform is that you double down on sort of almost being a little bit too insistent that they do things that they're not ready. It's just the trickiest and the most undesirable sort of situation that you can find yourself in as a dad."

Freddy has previously alleged that his grandmother, Jackiey Budden, introduced him to drugs at the age of 12. Brazier reportedly attempted to legally prevent Freddy from seeing Budden to ensure his safety, after it surfaced that the two would smoke cannabis together at her home. Freddy sided with his grandmother, leading Brazier to withdraw the legal action.

Last year, Freddy disclosed to his followers that he had been struggling with a smoking addiction from a young age and intended to enter rehabilitation. Reflecting on these hardships, Brazier said, "To see your son suffer in that way and not be able to appeal to his better nature to stop that addiction cycle….I couldn't do anything to stop it. And I tried standing in front of the front door, I tried going to the police."

During Freddy's psychotic episodes, when his behavior became uncontrollable and seemed uncharacteristic, Brazier would search the streets for him, concerned for his safety.

Freddy recently shared that he is focusing on self-work and plans to begin therapy to address his trauma.