Lucy Hale is getting real about her sobriety.
While appearing on Thursday’s episode of The Diary of a CEO podcast, the Pretty Little Liars alum opened up about her struggles with alcoholism over the years:
“I’ve been working on getting sober since I was 20 — I’m 33. It takes time. It took time, and it took patience with myself.”
Lucy admitted that her “problem” has now actually spanned nearly 20 years, telling host Steven Bartlett:
“I’ve had an issue from my very first experience drinking, which was like, age 14. Up until a year ago, I have had a problem.”
Wow — SUCH an early age to start up! No wonder she wasn’t ready. Makes you sad for all the child stars whose environments cultivated such bad habits.
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The Fantasy Island actress described her drinking as being problematic right from the start:
“I’ve never had a period of my life where I was a normal, moderate drinker. It was always, ‘Let’s go.’ I was willing to go to this crazy dark place every time.”
So scary… She continued:
“My brain doesn’t work the same way as someone who can just have a glass of wine. It always wants more. It’s craving that feeling.”
The Truth or Dare star did, however, desire a change, but for a long time attempted to do so for the wrong reasons:
“I tried to change for boyfriends, I tried to change for my mom, I tried to change for my career, I tried to change for vain reasons — ‘I’ll look younger and look skinnier. I’ll stop drinking for that.’ One of my best friends died of alcoholism and that still didn’t make me want to get sober. None of that s**t works. Alcohol isn’t the problem. The problem is this feeling inside of me.”
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She called her old ways, “incredibly self-destructive and self-sabotaging,” adding:
“I just held on to that belief that the real Lucy came out when she was drinking. It also quieted my mind… my brain just doesn’t shut off and it’s exhausting. I was a textbook binge drinker, blackout, wouldn’t remember what I did or what I said, which is scary.”
However, as we reported last week, Lucy has since turned a corner, and just celebrated one year of sobriety! She wrote in an Instagram post last Wednesday:
“On January 2, 2023 I celebrated one year of sobriety. While this journey has mostly been private, I felt compelled tonight to let anyone who is struggling know that you are not alone and you are loved.”
See (below):
Absolutely incredible! After such a long journey, we’re so glad Lucy has been able to stick with sobriety this time! The star went on to call her current state of health “freeing,” and “liberating,” adding that she “deserves more out of this life.”
Watch the full podcast (below):
She has our full support! What are YOUR thoughts, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments down below!
[Images via The Diary Of A CEO/YouTube]
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