The talent show heartthrob lost touch with his father after his parents split up when he was just four-years-old.
His mother was forced to work three jobs in order to support both Ben and his older brother Alex.
OLLY MURS WARNS 'DISGRUNTLED' X FACTOR ACTS: 'TRUST YOUR MENTORS'
Ben, 29, started abusing alcohol in his teens as a means to cope with his depression.
He told the Daily Mirror: “As I got older I couldn’t handle it and I used to drink a lot. I was necking a bottle of vodka a day until I was sick and paralytic.”
“It takes someone to say to you it’s not normal, this isn’t right, which is when you stop. I just wanted to get off my face.”
Ben quit drinking when he was 18, and is now focusing on his music career as the X Factor competition intensifies.
The former van driver has also denied rumours of a potential romance between himself and ex-contestant Lola Saunders.
A source told the MailOnline: “Ben and Lola are both very tactile with one another and get on really well. They are just good friends though and both are in relationships.”
Catch The X Factor tonight at 8pm on ITV.