Lucy Hale Says She Was A ‘Textbook Binge Drinker’ Before Finally Getting Sober Last Year
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Lucy Hale is opening up about his history of alcoholism.
Appearing this week on the “Diary of a CEO” podcast, the “Pretty Little Liars” star shared her story of getting to sobriety.
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“I have never talked publicly about being sober — I have a little over a year of sobriety,” she said. “I have been working on getting sober since I was 20; I’m 33. It took time. It took patience with myself.”
Hale continued, “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.”
The actress revealed that she had her first drink at age 14, and says since then there was never a time when she was a “normal moderate drinker.”
“I was willing to go to this crazy dark place every time,” Hale explained. “Of course I tried to be a moderate drinker, just having two. I have an allergy to alcohol. I cannot drink. I view it as an allergy; 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.”
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Trying to get sober took a lot of work over many years of trying, often for the sake of her loved ones.
“I tried to change for boyfriends, I tried to change for my mum, 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,” she said. “None of that s**t works. Alcohol isn’t the problem. The problem is this feeling inside of me.”
Finally, on Jan. 2, 2022, Hale realized she “deserves more out of this life,” and she decided to make a commitment to sobriety.
She described finally being sober after all these years as “freeing,” and that living without alcohol has been “peaceful.”
