Lucy Hale was 'textbook binge drinker' before sobriety journey
Lucy Hale has opened up about quitting alcohol for the first time.
To mark Valentine's Day last week, the Pretty Little Liars star revealed to her Instagram followers that she celebrated one year of sobriety on 2 January.
Opening up about her relationship with alcohol for the first time on The Diary of a CEO podcast, the 33-year-old revealed she used to be a "textbook binge drinker" who couldn't consume booze in moderation.
"I have been working on getting sober since I was 20; I'm 33. It took time. It took patience with myself," she began. "I was (a) textbook binge drinker, blackout, wouldn't remember what I did or what I said, which is scary.
"From my very first experience drinking, which was like age 14, up until a year ago, I've had a problem. I've never had a period of my life where I was a normal moderate drinker. It was always, 'lets go'. I was willing to go to this crazy dark place every time. Of course, I tried to be a moderate drinker, just having two... (My brain) always wants more. It's craving that feeling."
Lucy explained that she felt like her freest and truest self when she was drunk and that booze seemed like a "solution" to her problems as it "quieted (her) mind".
She had many tough conversations with loved ones over the years about her "incredibly self-destructive" behaviour. She unsuccessfully tried to change her ways for the sake of others in the past, but on 2 January 2022, she finally decided to do it for herself.
"I had to and wanted to get sober, January 2 2022, because I said, 'I deserve more. I deserve more out of this life. I have to try it a different way and I have to be willing to just commit to it,'" she recalled.
