Mabel quit booze and took a year off after 'losing myself personally'

Mabel lost sight of who she was and quit drinking to gain perspective.

The 26-year-old singer has opened up about her struggles right before the COVID-19 lockdown, admitting she was "not in the best place personally", and needed to quit booze and take some time for herself to do the things old Mabel would do.

In a candid chat on Jessie Ware's 'Table Manners' podcast, she said: "I didn't drink for a whole year, why I took a year off because I went through like a personal thing, which I don't mind talking about, which is just like, I just felt after the busiest year of my life, like I completely lost myself personally.

"We did the BRITs, and we did a tour. And I think after that I was maybe going to make a little announcement of just like, not being in the best place personally, and just needing a grace period."

The lockdown came at the perfect time for the 'Don't Call Me Up' singer.

She continued: "And then lockdown happened. And that was, I've got time to myself and had time to just like, remember things that I like, and I started riding horses, again."

One of the things that affected the star was the scrutiny of her appearance on social media, which would fill her with dread before going on stage and make her obsess over her looks, which she believes impacted her performance.

She shared: "And the social media thing had gotten too much like people just scrutinising. Like the way that I looked, I'd become completely obsessive about it. And I was just like, you know, going on stage in complete and total utter fear, because I would have seen one comment about something.

"And then you're going on stage already scared that people are going to say bad things, and then you're not performing to your best ability, and then it becomes a Catch-22 because people say terrible things. And you're like, Well, I kind of agree with you. It wasn't a great performance. And yeah, it just became too much."

However, the time off worked wonders for her, and Mabel was able to get back to writing songs again.

She added: "And then I just was like, let me just do a year of like, just trying to have my head as clear as possible. And started writing again, which has been, you know, really good."

Listen to Mabel's full interview on 'Table Manners' at https://play.acast.com/s/tablemanners/.