Lucy Hale is finally happy with her life after going down a dark path for years before getting to a place of hitting "rock bottom." The 35-year-old actress opened up in an exclusive interview with People about her struggle with alcohol addiction and her journey to getting sober. “When I got sober, my intention was never to be the poster child of sobriety,” she said. “But when I began speaking about it, it came from a place of needing to heal and take my power back.”
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She loves that others have found her journey relatable.
Lucy says "the biggest gift" of her opening up about her journey is the fact that others feel seen and find her story relatable, per People. The sentiment was felt even more when she visited Friendly House LA, an addiction treatment center.
"When women are together healing and growing, it's just …. it's palpable," she said. "It's just the best feeling to witness women blossoming and overcoming the impossible.”
Lucy is receiving the 2024 Humanitarian Award from the treatment center.
Lucy will receive the 2024 Humanitarian Award from Friendly House. "I can't believe I'm at a place in my life where I can talk about the things that used to bring me so much shame,” she said. “Since a very young age, I always felt alone and misunderstood. So as a teenager, I found alcohol — which of course shut my brain off. And it worked for me for a while, until it turned really dark."
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At one point in her life, she felt powerless in the face of her addiction.
“I always had a desire to change, but with any form of addiction, you become powerless to this obsession,” the Pretty Little Liars actress explained to People. “I definitely had to go through my own process of getting sober. It took many, many, many years, many relapses, many dark moments, many falling on my face quite literally, but figuratively as well to figure out what was working in my life, finding out why I was drinking, because removing alcohol is just one part of it.”
She says 'Pretty Little Liars' was her saving grace.
Lucy believes that her time on that show was a saving point. “If I'm perfectly honest, without my career and without that creative outlet, I don't know if I would've made it,” she said.
“I think that show and my love of what I do was my North Star truly, it really gave me purpose, and still gives me purpose," she added. "But I was constantly in this cycle of extreme depression and anxiety while having to show up to work and be on. And that 'being on' fueled even more drinking … I was caught in this cycle that I couldn't get out of.”
At 32, Lucy hit 'rock bottom.'
Hitting rock bottm at 32 years old made her realize a change had to happen. “I made the choice on the morning of January 2, 2022 that I was going to do everything I could to get sober,” she recalled. “I knew if I continued on that path, I would've lost everything I cared about. It was the scariest choice in my life, but also it's been the best gift. When I made that change, everything else changed. My whole life has changed.”
Staying sober is a daily choice.
For the actress, she has to be dedicated to her sobriety. “I still have to make the choice every day like, ‘Okay, today I'm staying sober and today I'm choosing me,’ but that goes deeper than just not drinking. My life feels so good now that I wouldn't give that up for anything," she said.
“What sobriety has taught me is to take things as they come and enjoy every moment of every day. I have big dreams, big aspirations, but where my life is at now is just trying to be as present as possible.”
She opened up about her sobriety at the beginning of 2024.
In an Instagram post Lucy shared in January 2024 celebrating her sobriety, she wrote, "This continues to be the greatest gift I’ve given myself. I remain so grateful for another year of growth, growing pains, lessons, joys, and self realizations. To be able to show up as myself and to be greeted with such warmth and acceptance is something I do not take for granted ♥️."
