By ANNETTE WITHERIDGE

Last updated at 16:27 10 January 2008

Deeply depressed rapper Eminem has become a virtual recluse, comfort eating his way towards obesity.

The once skinny Slim Shady, who spent four days in hospital over Christmas suffering from pneumonia and suspected heart problems, is just 5ft 7inches tall but has ballooned up to 14.5 stone

His family and friends fear his massive weight gain is causing him long-term health woes but the deeply depressed star refuses to stop binge eating.

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Eminem, who once boasted of his love for Ecstasy and Vicodin pain-killers, survives on a diet of calorie busting Mexican takeaways and heart clogging fillet minion steak.

He thinks nothing of eating the same food day in day out, ordering from a nearby posh restaurant and paying for his army of hangers-on.

The chronic insomniac – an avid nightclubber at the height of his fame - is often in bed by 9pm but rarely sleeps more than a few hours at a time.

He usually gets up at dawn but instead of working on new songs in his home studio he lolls around watching TV or playing mind-numbing computer games.

His mother Debbie Nelson, who has just written a book 'My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem' about her son, says he is barely recognisable nowadays.

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"He's let his blond hair grow out, so everything but the ends are dark, his face has broken out in pimples and he's put on so much weight that he's causing all sorts of other health problems for himself.

"Since childhood he's suffered bouts of pneumonia. He's always had acute throat infections, like tonsillitis and he's asthmatic. His diet can't help."

Debbie, whose book was published last month, says: "I fear for him every waking moment.

"I worry about his health all the time. He's always had high blood pressure and his cholesterol levels must be sky high.

"He orders filet mignon takeout from an expensive restaurant almost every evening. I dread to think what his bills are – he pays for everyone hanging around the house."

She believes he is becoming more like Elvis Presley – the star he has constantly been compared to for taking the music of poor black singers and turning it main stream – every day.

The grossly obese Presley retreated behind the gates of his Graceland mansion, surrounded by a Memphis mafia of hangers on who catered to his every whim. He died of a heart attack, aged just 42, after years of drug abuse.

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Eminem's mother fears he is also heading for an early grave if he doesn't totally change his life style.

The rapper first retreated behind the doors of his Michigan home 18 months ago after his best mate and fellow rapper Proof died in a hail of bullets outside a sleazy 8 Mile Road club.

Debbie says Proof was the only person Eminem truly trusted after he shot to fame in 1999 with 'The Slim Shady LP'. They'd known each other since their teens and Proof pulled him up on his drug taking and problems with on-off wife Kim.

In the months after Proof's death, Eminem was once again battling Kim.

Their second marriage had lasted just 82 days with Kim claiming he was back on drugs – after a brief stint in rehab - and refusing to get help.

Eminem has known Kim since he was 15 and she was just 11. He says she is the only woman he has ever loved but his mother believes Kim is another bad habit that he just can't give up.

They share custody of their 11-year-old daughter Hailie and live on the same exclusive gated estate on the outskirts of Detroit. And despite their often knock-down, drag-out fights, they still flit in and out of each other's lives. After their first divorce, he dated superstar Mariah Carey but ultimately went back to Kim.

Friends say she has recently wheedled her way back into his affections after discovering that he was seeing a new girl.

His inner circle, including protégé 50 Cent, say it is unlikely Eminem will ever tour again because he likes to be home every night for Hailie. But at 12 she is becoming independent, throwing teenage-style temper tantrums and refusing to stay in with her doting daddy.

Even so, she is one of the few people who can actually persuade Eminem to leave home. He drives her to private school most mornings, attends parent teacher association meetings and goes to all of her dance recitals.

But the chronically shy singer, who won an Oscar and critical acclaim for his movie 8 Mile, usually wears a hooded jacket, spectacles and a scarf over his face to hide his features.

He cannot walk anywhere, even the local shopping mall, without being stopped by fans so on rare outings he surrounds himself with bodyguards and travels in a convoy of cars.

Last year he was slated to star in 'Have Gun – Will Travel', a movie remake of an old American western TV series, was expected to bring out his autobiography and was said to have a new album in the works.

But none of the projects went ahead.

Three months ago he surprised 50 Cent by phoning in to a radio show he was on to wish him well.

When the disc jockey asked what he up to, Eminem said he was 'in limbo'. It is the only public statement he has made since he spoke at Proof's funeral, although he has emailed Detroit radio stations in the past to offer his opinion on things.

He still has a stable of acts, including Akon and Stat Quo, attached to his own record label plus a radio programme to showcase new music but even his D12 crew – once headed by Proof – are all now working on solo projects.

Debbie says that her son used to be a workaholic, constantly scribbling lyrics down on odd scraps of paper, then working in his studio constantly revising songs.

But now he appears to be suffering from writer's block, wasting entire surfing the internet and watching TV.

Eminem has also cut many relatives and friends out of his life, claiming they only want him for his money.

He fell out with his mother when they became embroiled in a nasty court case over interviews he'd given saying she was a pill popping alcoholic who lived off welfare benefits and boyfriends.

Single mum Debbie was devastated by the fall out, along with his hate filled lyrics towards her in hits like 'Cleanin' Out My Closet'.

She claims he invented a new life for himself to get street cred with the Detroit rap crowd and then started to believe the tales he'd told.

He also confided that he was so strung out on drink and drugs that he had no memory of 1999, the year he made it big and married Kim for the first time.

Debbie says that was one of the reasons she wrote her book. She wanted it to be an open letter to her son to remind him of the good times they once had.

Growing up Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers the Third, was a mummy's boy who was too shy to play with other children. Debbie says they were so close that, even as a teenager, relatives commented that it was as though the umbilical cord had never been cut.

But once he reached adulthood he started lashing out at her, even beating her up on his 23rd birthday.

Debbie refuses to blame her son, saying Kim created many of the problems between them and then once he became famous he was surrounded by a crew of yes-men and women.

"No one prepares you for the downside of celebrity," she says, in her book.

"Marshall says fame brought a slew of problems he never expected. He no longer trusts anyone. Everyone wants a piece of Eminem, the mega star, not Marshall Mathers the man. I call these people the circling vultures, they spot dollar signs and swoop in for the kill."

And after discovering her son had spent Christmas in hospital, Debbie is even more worried about him and his destructive lifestyle. She has offered to do anything she can to help him.

"If he needs me, I'll be there in a heartbeat," she adds.

• 'My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem' is published by John Blake.