Actress Lucy Hale is breaking her silence on a nearly two-decade struggle with alcohol abuse. The Pretty Little Liars alum shared her story during a recent podcast interview, where she cried tears of joy over just how far she's come over the years.
Lucy revealed her story while chatting with Steven Bartlett.
The 33-year-old told the Diary of a CEO host how she cries "all the time" when discussing how she finally made it to sobriety.
"I just love where I landed in my life and it's been a really powerful and painful, insightful, joyous, horrible journey," she explained, sharing that she had been "working on getting sober" after discovering she's had a problem since the age of 14.
The actress says she turned to alcohol often because of the way it made her feel.
Lucy surprised fans on Valentine's Day when she shared a post on Instagram announcing she had made it a full 12 months without drinking.
Before that, Lucy said she would often turn to booze to "quiet [her] mind," something she told Steven she found "exhausting."
"I was a textbook binge drinker," she continued on the podcast interview. "Blackout. I wouldn't remember what I did or what I said."
It wasn't until Lucy wanted to get sober that she was successful.
While she said she had "tried to change" in the past for various boyfriends, her mother, her career, and what she calls "vain reasons," she didn't actually find success until January 2, 2022 when she realized that she really did "want to get sober."
It takes a lot of support and determination to break free of alcohol abuse, so we're seriously impressed by Lucy's strength!
It sounds like Lucy had to hit rock bottom before finding her way out of the cycle.
Lucy recalled how she found the fortitude to move forward with her sobriety. "I said, 'I deserve more out of this life. I have to try it a different way,'" she recalled before adding that she first had to endure "dozens" of "emotional rock bottoms … at the depths of hell."
Lucy's had a lot of support since announcing her sobriety.
We can't imagine it's easy to be sober in Hollywood, but based on the outpouring of support on Lucy's Instagram post, it seems like she's surrounded by a lot of loving friends and family.
Good for Lucy for using her platform to talk about this issue. We're sure she's helping others who are facing similar challenges.
