Ben Cousins has ‘chosen drugs over everything’, even his children, ex claims

BEN Cousins’ former partner, Maylea Tinecheff, says she fears he will die unless he pulls himself out of his drug spiral, Sunday Night’s Steve Pennells reports.

BEN Cousins’ former partner, Maylea Tinecheff, says she fears he will die unless he pulls himself out of his drug spiral.

“It’s got to a point now, where if this continues on Ben will die, and his children need him,” she says.

In a raw and frank interview to air tonight on Channel Seven’s Sunday Night, Ms Tinecheff says Cousins had chosen drugs over her and their two children.

“To be a parent you can’t just love your child,” she says.

“Love’s about sacrifices, you have to do what’s right for them.

“He’s chosen drugs over everything.”

The Brownlow medallist is serving a one-year prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to stalking and repeatedly breaching a violence restraining order (VRO) taken out by Ms Tinecheff.

“I know he’s in a lot of pain,” Maylea Tinecheff tells Sunday Night. Picture: Channel 7

“I know he’s in a lot of pain,” she says in the interview.

“I know that he’s humiliated by what’s gone on, certainly I know he’d be sitting in there thinking he’s probably hating me to bits in there thinking that I’ve done this to him, but the drugs have destroyed him.

KIDS DON’T KNOW HE’S IN PRISON

“He’s a broken man. It’s very sad.”

The couple has two children, aged three and five, who have not been told their father is in prison.

Cousins’ battle with methamphetamines, which destroyed his football career, has been splashed across the headlines.

But Ms Tinecheff reveals it was much worse than people knew and much was kept secret from the public.

Ben Cousins and Maylea Tinecheff early in their relationship. Picture: Channel 7

“It wouldn’t be hard for him to get drugs. Everyone wants to do drugs with Ben Cousins,” she says.

In a series of bombshell revelations to air tonight, she reveals the real story behind Cousins’ arrests, including his bizarre behaviour outside a Sikh temple in Perth and how he ended up at a brothel in Esperance after he tried to smuggle drugs into a rehab facility.

The program will also air confronting never-before-seen private videos and photos of Cousins’ downfall and attempts by him and those around him to stop his addiction.

“HE DOESN’T KNOW HOW UNWELL HE IS”

“Look, nothing was ever about me or how I felt about things,” she says.

“There was all sorts of things I had to put up with … the drugs, the women, football, his family, the lot.”

Ms Tinecheff says Cousins doesn’t realise the extent of his problem.

“He doesn’t get how unwell he is,” she says.

“He’s so used to getting his own way … he just doesn’t understand it.”

Ben Cousins and a pregnant Maylea Tinecheff. She says she still loves him. Picture: Channel 7

She reveals what led to the restraining order and how she still loved the father of her children. She also addresses her own past drug use, but insists she is now clean.

“I’m so pleased that they’re away from my life,” she says.

“It was the worst part of my life. I definitely wasn’t part of the problem.

“All that’s been said about me is bad stuff.

“It’s a shocking drug.

“When you first have it, you feel like you’re King Kong.

“But it quickly takes you on a downward spiral … all the lies and manipulation that you lose the person that you love.

“When we were first together it was all recreational, and he’d stop when he had to play football.

“He blew me away how disciplined he was.”

Ben and Me: The Downfall of a Football God airs on Sunday Night at 8.30pm on Seven.

Cousins arriving at court last year. Picture: Steve Ferrier