Home and Away star Emily Weir recalls ‘hitting rock bottom’ with her alcohol dependency
Home and Away star Emily Weir recalls ‘hitting rock bottom’ with her alcohol dependence and how AA and her stint on Dancing With The Stars ‘saved’ her
Emily Weir says her recent performance on Dancing With The Stars “saved her” after years of struggling with alcohol addiction.
The Home and Away star, 32, said the emotional dance routines on the Channel Seven show were a cathartic experience.
“It was incredibly special, because the dance was essentially a story about losing hope and a reflection of our personal journeys,” she told TV Week.
The pain of Emily’s parents’ divorce in her early 20s led her to turn to alcohol as a coping mechanism, but she managed to quit before being cast in Home and Away in 2019.
“I was sober before I came on the show, but my struggles didn’t stop there. I didn’t work on myself enough and those demons showed up,’ she said.
Emily Weir says her recent performance on Dancing With The Stars “saved her” after years of struggling with alcohol addiction
Fortunately, Emily found help by joining Alcoholics Anonymous, and she says participating in the upcoming series of DWTS gave her an extra boost of confidence.
“Over the past five years, I’ve learned to set boundaries and be kinder to myself. I’m thankful to be in Home and Away and DWTS is one of the best things I’ve ever done,” she explained.
In December, Emily gave in she still struggles with maintaining her sobriety over the holidays, even after being sober for five years.
The Home and Away star, 32, said the emotional dance routines on the Channel Seven show were a cathartic experience. Pictured: Emily with her DWTS partner Lyu Masuda
While she is “proud” of what she has achieved, she said there is still a certain amount of exclusion during Christmas because she is unable to let go like those around her.
“There are lots of parties and lots of fun. I guess I don’t feel the attraction or the desire to drink which luckily for me has been relieved but how can I diffuse my energy how long do I want to be at that party before people get to that level where you can be nice of excluded,” she told The Daily Telegraph.
“The truth is that I still feel a little left out, not because people are excluding me, but because I’m not on the same level.
“It was incredibly special because at its core the dance was a story of losing hope and a reflection of our personal journeys,” she told TV Week
“So I leave early and sometimes I feel sad where I wish I didn’t have this problem but then I’d much rather be sane and healthy than the opposite because if you don’t keep it to me I have to drink again would mean some serious problems.’
The soap star, who plays restaurateur Mackenzie Booth in Home and Away, went on to say that the “contradiction” of being “proud” and yet wanting something different is “a normal part of being sober.”
She explained that the “price is way too high” to gamble and she was happy to make the social sacrifice for her sobriety.
Dancing With The Stars premieres on Sunday 18 June on Channel Seven
Emily found help by joining Alcoholics Anonymous and said her participation in the upcoming DWTS series has given her an extra confidence boost