David Gest £500k In Debt, ‘Had Gambling Habit’ And Sky-High Blood Pressure Before His Death
The lonely life of David Gest has been revealed.
He is said to have blown thousands of pounds gambling in the months before he died, and left debts of nearly half a million.
Punters reportedly saw the entertainer, below in one of his last photoshoots, feeding two of the 50p-a-go slot machines at the same time.
Pals told The Sun he regularly spent £10,000 in marathon slot machine binges at casinos across the country.
One said: “He would spend 24 hours a day chasing the jackpot. David wouldn’t think twice about spending £10,000 in one sitting.
“His losses didn’t seem to affect him but in a 12-month period it was a substantial amount, it was six figures. It was an addiction.”
Over the past three years Twitter users have posted concerned messages after spotting Gest in casinos in Britain.
Gest, 62, who also had sky-high blood pressure and crippling insomnia like his pal Michael Jackson, was found dead on Tuesday in a £1,800-a-night East London hotel suite where he had lived for six months.
He left the Celebrity Big Brother house in January with a reading of 200/120, which is deemed highly risky. The normal level is 120/80 or lower.
Get posted on Twitter in January he was feeling ill but followed it with a declaration he was looking forward to coming to the UK to perform in his David Gest Is Not Dead tour – which is still going ahead as a tribute by pals this summer despite its now tasteless title and promo posters showing him posing in a coffin.
The Sun today revealed his company, David Gest Limited, had debts of £474,000 and he was left with £57,629 in the bank.
And he was said to be preparing to sell his huge collection of Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson memorabilia worth hundreds of thousands of pounds in a bid to make ends meet.
An accountant who examined his accounts told the paper: “His company has been insolvent for some time.”
It was claimed that Gest, below kissing ex-wife Liza Minnelli, lost more than £100,000 at the Grosvenor casino chain alone in the past year.
Other friends said he also blew four-figure sums on roulette tables.
One gambler wrote on Twitter: ‘I once saw David Gest in a casino playing two slot machines at once. Respect that level of degeneracy.’
Gest was alone for the final 48 hours of his life and had been snapped on the London Underground before his death looking frail and haggard.
But despite claims he was string out on sleeping pills like his best friend Jackson – who died aged 50 in 2009 from an overdose of tranquiliser propofol that he used to help him sleep – friends reckon the reality TV veteran died of natural causes after a two-year battle with ill-health.
Police are treating the death as unexplained.
A spokesman for Gest told The Sun: “David enjoyed gambling and was a popular figure at casinos around the world. He loved to tell stories of his casino triumphs. As far as we are aware, David has left no gambling debts anywhere.”
Pictures Getty Images/REX Features
