Frank Bruno has spoken for the first time of his living hell in a psychiatric hospital and begged: "Get me out of here."
Bruno stated: "It's like I'm in a prison. They've taken me away and I don't know half what's going on.
"Someone has taken steps to get me in and it's not that easy to get out."
"It isn't easy not being allowed to work out or go outside. I watch DVDs but there's not much else to do. I miss the boxing. I miss everything."
Lonely and frustrated Bruno has been bombarding Mary, 23, a DJ in LA, with up to three phone calls a day from a payphone at Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford, Essex.
They were a couple but split in May after four months together when Bruno refused to go public about their romance, but they remained good friends and he has turned to her in his hour of need.
Sometimes he calls the pretty DJ at 3am, leaving the message: "Hi, this is Dr Bruno. I need to talk to you. Call me."
He has repeatedly told her he wants to "put his key in her ignition". In one call he told her: "I will come out to see you and then I can give you a good service as well.
Bruno told Mary: "I didn't attack anyone. They're the ones that grabbed me. Even though I'm a boxer, I'm not violent."
He plans to join Mary in LA as soon as he is released, telling her: "I need to relax and chill out."
Bruno is receiving regular visits from Laura along with their three children Nicola, 20, Rachel, 16, and Franklyn, seven. The couple split in 1997 after Laura gained a court order banning him from molesting her.
Bruno says: "I don't understand why she's coming to see me. I don't want to get back together with her."
He can be detained up to 28 days while he is assessed by psychiatrists. Bruno has failed to convince them to let him out.
His ex-girlfriend Mary stated the following: "They've taken away his turntables and he's not allowed to train. Why take away the things he loves most?
"He needs to keep his mind occupied and he lives for boxing and training. Frank is depressed but he's certainly not insane.
"He just wants to get back to having a normal life. At the moment he's being treated like Hannibal Lecter.
"This is Frank Bruno - a British institution. How can he give so much and be treated like this?
"He calls me all the time. He is so lonely and needs someone to talk to. He sounds exhausted."
"I think he just wore himself out. It wasn't drugs as some people say. He's a health freak and was always anti-drugs. I found out he'd been sectioned from a friend. When I spoke to him I was crying and he was in tears as well. He said, 'Mary, they've taken me away. It's like I'm in a prison'".
"He's been having at least one meeting a day with the doctors, trying to get out of there.
"They string him along. When I asked him when he'd be out he said next Friday - then they told him it would take longer
"He's just confused and doesn't know why he can't go home."
Bruno latest: I'm bonkers to be in here
Re: Bruno latest: I'm bonkers to be in here
I don't follow this part, can someone please expand?bennie wrote:The couple split in 1997 after Laura gained a court order banning him from molesting her.
Re: Bruno latest: I'm bonkers to be in here
Ok cheers Bollocks.bollocks wrote:Think this is a reference to Frank's smacking his wife a few years ago. Not sure what really happened with this (refer British tabloid gobshit sensationalism). Other British guys may be able to elaborate furthersteve689 wrote:I don't follow this part, can someone please expand?bennie wrote:The couple split in 1997 after Laura gained a court order banning him from molesting her.