Bessie Carter says alcohol ‘should be illegal’ as she marks five years sober

Bessie Carter, the daughter of Imelda Staunton and Jim Carter, has revealed that she gave up alcohol five years ago.

The Bridgerton star, 29, wrote in a personal essay that the alcohol industry was to blame for making drinking a “standard part of our lives”.

Writing for alcohol-free spirit subscription service JOMO Club, Carter said that it used to be normal for her Friday nights to “start with drinking beers in a pub garden and end with blurry visions of endless cigarettes, horrible shots, trashy pop music, class A drugs, shared cabs with strangers, and an unexplained bloody knee”.

She recalled how these nights would become “funny anecdotes” and that, as a teenager, she and her friends “never questioned what was actually in these addictive substances”.

Carter said any occasion would be used as an excuse to drink, including getting a job, getting fired, going on a date and being heartbroken.

She blamed the alcohol industry for its role in making alcohol a part of people’s everyday lives, writing: “[The industry has] manipulated us so we forget that just on the other side of our glasses is a big, hungry, money-making machine. Once I started to understand and perceive alcohol from this point of view… everything changed.”

The actor said she began EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) therapy to work through her “low self-worth problems which alcohol only intensified”.

EMDR is a type of psychotherapy that aims to help patients process and recover from past experiences that affect their mental health and wellbeing, according to the British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists.

“I craved healthy food again. I stopped smoking. I read more books. I valued nights in as I learnt they contributed to another day of feeling absolutely incredible,” Carter continued.

“Finally I was rediscovering the authentic, funny, creative, powerful person I was before societal ‘norms’ ambushed me with a drug that should be illegal.”

She nodded towards celebrities who have spoken about giving up alcohol in recent months and years, including Tom Holland, Ed Sheeran and Florence Welch.

Earlier this month, the Spider-Man star opened up about his decision to get sober after he became “really worried” that he had a problem with alcohol.

Meanwhile, Sheeran said in 2021 that cutting out alcohol helped him adopt a cleaner, healthier lifestyle. Welch, who is also known by her stage name Florence + The Machine, has spoken candidly about her sobriety over the past nine years, after realising she had issues with alcohol during her rise to fame.

Carter concluded her essay by vowing to continue “trying to convince people what I and fellow non-drinkers know to be true… that life without alcohol is 10 times better than the life you think you’re living”.

Alcohol consumption has been linked to more than 200 diseases, including liver and heart disease, depression, and several cancers. Each year, hospitals in England see more than 270,000 admissions due to alcohol.

According to the Institute of Alcohol Studies, the industry spends more than £800m every year on advertising alcoholic beverages in the UK, including in print, TV and radio, as well as on social media and sponsorship of sporting and music events.

A list of organisations providing support for those concerned about their or a loved one’s drinking and mental health can be found here.