Grant Hackett breaks silence after mid-flight incident

TROUBLED swim star Grant Hackett has vowed to quit alcohol following his latest bizarre meltdown on a business class flight.

TROUBLED swim star Grant Hackett has vowed to quit alcohol following his latest bizarre meltdown on a business class flight.

In the latest of a long line of incidents which have dogged the Olympic champion since his initial retirement from swimming, Hackett was accused of grabbing a fellow passenger by the nipple after the man reclined his seat.

PLANE DRAMA: Hackett in mile-high row

Fronting the media on the Gold Coast on Friday afternoon, Hackett said he had no recollection of touching the man’s nipple but apologised unreservedly for his actions.

He said the incident followed a period of heavy drinking and he vowed to quit drinking as part of his rehabilitation plan.

He said he had viewed television footage taken following the incident and it was ‘disgusting and excruciating to watch’.

“I got on the flight, a gentleman put his seat back, I said, ‘Would you mind putting it up?’

Grant Hackett appears before the media today.

“I offended him, I had no intent to offend him inappropriately and from there the rest is history,” Hackett said today.

“I don’t want to get into a he said, she said situation.

“Independent witnesses articulated what happened very well and I stand by the statements they made and they got to see what played out.

Asked whether he tweaked the nipple of his fellow passenger, Hackett said: “From my perspective, no. I cannot explain or vouch for the person who was sitting ahead of me. Everyone around me stated the same thing that I just said.

“Did I mean to touch him inappropriately? If I did, I am very sorry, I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to offend him.

“It was not my intent at the end of the day and for me I have spoken to the gentleman and his partner who were sitting in front of me, apologised to them profusely if in any way I did offend them and had a good chat with them.

“I’ve chatted with them several times and sorted it out and on a personal level everything is fine.”

Hackett said he would be taking some time out to “re-evaluate” his life.

“Being in that state and binge drinking is an issue that I need to address and something I will address,” he said.

“I had not drunk in many months and you get yourself into a situation where you come to the end of a long tether, certainly for me the pressure and the stress of the Olympic trials and all the things that followed beyond that, the expectations, the attention — it’s a lot to deal with.

“I don’t say this as an excuse but I am trying to contextualise the situation but at the end of the day, getting myself into that situation is not acceptable and something I need to remedy.”

He said he planned to take time out to deal with his personal issues but did not rule out a role within the Australian swimming set-up in the future.

He also said he would not rule out an appearance at the Rio Olympics in a broadcast capacity.

He had been involved in talks to join Channel 7’s commentary team before the incident was dragged in to the spotlight on April 17.

Hackett was only released from hospital on Tuesday, after spending a week there fighting a severe throat infection.

However, he refused to use the illness as an excuse for his actions and said alcohol alone was to blame.