16 September, 2016. 12:34
ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
A LOCAL FATHER OF FOUR feels that he can finally stop abusing a powerful muscle-relaxant as Network Ten’s runaway dating show The Bachelor, came to a controversial end last night in Bali.
Valium, diazepam, benzos – whatever you call the magic little pills, they’ve kept 61-year-old Walter Greenshaw sane against insurmountable odds.
As a doting father of three teenage girls, the area bank manager knows the impact The Bachelor can have on families like his. The gasping and shouting. Screams followed by hollering and swearing. Compounded with the social exclusion that one might feel as the only member of a household who can’t watch the show, Greenshaw found solace in his abuse of diazepam.
“At first it was only one or two when I got home from work,” he said. “For the first few episodes, that used to do me fine. I felt like I was in a spa in outer space.”
But as his tolerance to the drug began to grow, the show began more intense.
“Then it became like five or six tablets. I’d preload at the office then drive home just as they’d kick in. When they’d actually watch the show, I’d go sit in the car, put some shoegaze on and muzz out.” he said.
However, now that the series has finished, Walter feels like he can finally move on with his life – a life he envisions without Valium.
“There’s cricket on in South Africa next week. I can’t watch it live and smoke diazepam at the same time, I’d just go to sleep. I’m giving it up, I’m giving it up for pyjama cricket.”
