I saw royalty, lords and degenerates all come and go from my drugs den: Son of late restaurant critic AA Gill and ex Tory MP Amber Rudd, Alasdair Gill lost a decade to addiction. Now, six years sober, he tells his extraordinary story

The debauched chaos was unmatched – but it was the stench that hit you most: ‘Heroin and p***; smells that always come together,’ says chef Alasdair Gill. Alasdair Gill, chef and son of the late restaurant critic AA Gill and former Tory politician Amber Rudd spent years in active addictionGill has been sober for six years now. Alasdair Gill seen with his father AA Gill and sister Flora. When AA Gill died, his son had hit a nadir: his life was chaotic; he was, ‘unmanageable, unhinged, unreliable’. Knives and Spoons, by Alasdair Gill (£20, Macmillan) is out now