TV star Paul Nicholls smokes a crack cocaine pipe in shocking footage obtained by The Sun on Sunday.
The ex-EastEnder, 36, is at one point seen on his knees inhaling the contents at a friend’s flat.
A source said last night: “He’s fallen off the wagon and seems in a bad way.”
His once-glittering career has plunged to a new low.
In the footage the actor — who played a drug dealer in 2004 Hollywood hit Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason — is also seen on a sofa as a pal lights the pipe for him.
On a two-tiered coffee table in the room are discarded cigarette ends as well as torn-up cigarette papers and white powder.
Nicholls, who has a history of substance abuse, took himself to hospital after falling off the wagon.
The grim scenes are a world away from Nicholls’ fresh-faced image on EastEnders, when he attracted legions of female fans and dated co-stars Martine McCutcheon and Danniella Westbrook.
Earlier this year he was seen alongside Sheridan Smith in BBC drama The C-Word about a young journalist struck down by cancer.
But a source revealed Nicholls has taken a turn for the worse after recently returning to his home town of Bolton, from London.
The insider said: “He’s come back up and has been living with family.
“He knows a lot of people in the town, including some unsavoury types. He’s fallen in with a bit of a bad crowd and gone off the rails.
“Paul has been trying to keep things clean. But he has recently let himself slide and fallen off the wagon. He seems in a bad way.”
Nicholls, whose real name is Paul Greenhalgh, is one of television’s best known faces.
He joined EastEnders as a 16-year-old in 1996 but left in 1997.
He later revealed he was suffering with depression as well as drink and drug problems around that time.
He has appeared in numerous roles since playing schizophrenic Joe Wicks in the soap and has just signed a deal to appear in BBC detective drama Death in Paradise.
But his family are now said to be concerned after learning of his latest setback.
Nicholls was caught on camera smoking the crack pipe at his friend’s flat two weeks ago.
The source said he was there for several hours until the evening.
The source added: “Paul realised he had badly fallen off the wagon and went into the Bolton Royal Infirmary. He wanted help and went there of his own accord but was out pretty quickly.”
The day after Nicholls’ smoking session at the apartment, his worried mum Julie contacted the actor’s associates.
The source told The Sun on Sunday: “She was not happy and worked out who he had been with and sent them angry texts asking what the hell had gone on.
“She is close to him and will be trying to look out for him after this has happened.”
Nicholls had until recently been living in North London, in a flat close to Hampstead Heath. But according to his Facebook page he is now divorced from 38-year-old model wife Chantal. She is living in nearby Kentish Town.
Before the pair married he dated Hollyoaks actress Joanna Taylor.
Our source said: “Paul has come back to Bolton on his own. He has been out a few times and said he was living with his mum.
“He’s been staying in the Bradshaw area of the town and getting taxis to friends’ houses from there.
“He has not said a lot about his life in London and Chantal.”
Nicholls has spoken about having drug problems in the past.
After quitting Enders in 1997, he went straight into police TV series City Central but then asked to be written out of that.
He confessed years later that he was going through a turbulent time during that period of his life.
In a 2008 interview to promote ITV show Harley Street, in which he starred alongside former Coronation Street actress Suranne Jones, he admitted: “I was well on my way to a total breakdown.
“I was drinking a lot and taking drugs. I had lost control of my life.
“The more I partied, the more I was telling myself, ‘Wow, this is what acting is all about’. Everything span out of control. I had an appetite for craziness.”
His real-life issues around the late ’90s came after his soap character Joe suffered a breakdown.
The youngster, who was the son of David Wicks, played by Michael French, heard voices in his head and complained of evil forces trying to get him.
The character also pinned up cuttings about aliens on his bedroom wall and wore a tin foil hat.
Nicholls said he managed to settle down after that time and moved away from booze and drugs.
The star, who went teetotal, said: “I discovered I can’t just have a couple of drinks and then stop. It’s not in my make up.”
Nicholls took up stage roles and secured parts in TV shows including Holby City and Channel 4 crime thriller The Fear.
He had gained a taste of the big time in 2004 when he appeared in the Bridget Jones flick alongside Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant.
Nicholls played drug dealer Jed who tells Bridget and her pal Shazza that he has “a very special treat lined up for lunch”.
He is seen bare-chested and wearing a towel with both characters as they eat sat cross-legged on the beach, having what turns out to be an omelette filled with magic mushrooms.
Nicholls married Scottish model Chantal Brown, famed for appearing in a TV burger advert which saw her strip to her underwear, in 2008.
He said of his then wife: “She’s my soulmate. I don’t even look at other women now.”
But in July 2011 the star’s stable lifestyle appeared to have hit trouble again.
Other reports detailed how he had acted “erratically” on the set of the schoolroom drama following the death of a relative.
In 2012 he gave an interview to plug ITV show Law and Order: UK in which he starred with Bradley Walsh and admitted he struggled to recall his time on EastEnders.
He said: “I can’t really remember it. It’s really weird. I remember driving to work and being on set a few times, but if I look back it’s just blank.”
In 2013 he quit his role as DS Sam Casey on Law and Order in a dramatic storyline.
He recently signed up as a guest star in the BBC’s Caribbean-based detective series Death in Paradise.
Announcing the deal, Nicholls said: “I’m very excited to have the opportunity to work with the fantastic cast and crew.”
An agent for Nicholls failed to respond to a request for a comment from The Sun on Sunday.
Nicholls was uncontactable and his mother Julie declined to speak to our reporter.