Michael Caine quits alcohol in bid to live longer

Michael Caine has quit drinking alcohol in a bid to spend more time with his three grandchildren.

The 88-year-old actor is grandfather to 12-year-old Taylor and 11-year-old twins Miles and Allegra. In an interview with Candis magazine, Michael admitted his young relatives have prompted him to overhaul his lifestyle.

"I've decided to live a bit longer," he said. "I've cut down on the drink and got a new outlook on life. I thought I wasn't going to have grandchildren, and suddenly I have three. They're my fountain of youth and have given me a new lease of life without any of the worries or troubles. I'm completely besotted and so is my wife.

"I've had some high points in my life, I've won two Academy Awards and been given a knighthood, and I used to think that you couldn't get better than that. But then I got my grandchildren, which is better than anything.

"The wonderful thing about ­grandchildren is something someone once said, which is they fill a hole in your heart which you didn't know was empty. And I think that's absolutely true."

Caine is dad to daughter Dominique from his first marriage to actress Patricia Haines, and to Natasha with second wife Shakira.

Back in 2016, the Tenet star opened up about how Shakira saved him from potential alcohol problems when he was younger.

"I was a bit of a p**s-artist when younger. I used to drink a bottle of vodka a day and I was smoking several packs a day," told the Radio Times. "I wasn't unhappy, but it was stress. You know, 'Am I going to get another picture? How am I going to do this part? How am I going to remember all those lines?'"