Paul Gascoigne has been crowned the winner of Channel 4's star-studded entertainment series, Scared of the Dark.

Hosted by Eastenders icon Danny Dyer, the new reality show tasked several celebrities with living in a pitch-black bunker for eight days – an experience that definitely proved not for the faint-hearted.

And on Thursday night's finale episode, the fifth consecutive episode of the show, Danny finally revealed that former footballer Paul had won the series. "It's time to announce the winner," 45 year old Danny began. He added: "The person you have chosen as the winner of Scared of the Dark is… Paul ‘Gazza’ Gascoigne."

Paul was clearly delighted at overcoming all the obstacles to be crowned the series winner. In his winning statement, the 55 year old said: "People always question my mental strength, but my success on this series proves that I am strong.

"I was nervous going in there but having got this far on the series made me the happiest man around. I'm so happy. It's unbelievable. I've got my smile back. I'm a better person. I got electrocuted and got shot with a cannonball in the bo***cks."

Paul continued: "I f***ing fell backwards. I thought I was 50 foot up in the air, and I went through all that. So to come out the other side and to be smiling is such an amazing achievement, and to win, it is like the most unbelievable feeling. It's just fantastic. I'm really honoured to have won, but in my eyes, all my fellow Scared of the Dark celebrities are winners.

"They all did really well, and I really enjoyed spending those eight days getting to know them in the dark. We worked so well as a team," he concluded.

The other contestants on the show, which was condemned for using line rabbits during a task, were also pleased for Paul, with Chloe Burrows gushing: "The way that he has been so open about his emotion and talking about you know his mental health, I feel like that's probably the most remarkable thing that's happened."

Comedian Chris McCausland added: "He just opened himself up and laid himself out for everyone to see," while Donna Preston echoed: "This journey for him has been really, really hard, and I think he just needs to be really proud of himself."

Others who competed in the show included The Wanted star Max George, TV personality Scarlett Moffatt, retired pro-boxer Nicola Adams, and professional boxer Chris Eubank.

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