Lucy Hale has opened up about her sobriety journey for the first time by talking about her inner journey and her relationship with alcohol.
The Pretty Little Liars actress, 33, appeared on The Diary of a CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett, where she opened up about going to a “dark place.”
Last week, Lucy celebrated a year of sobriety in a Valentine’s Day post about self-love.
He announced that he had reached the milestone on January 2, after deciding to give up alcohol for good in January 2022.
She shared that it had mostly been a ‘private’ trip and took to social media to recognize the achievement with a cake baked for the occasion.
Candid: Lucy Hale has opened up about her sobriety journey for the first time as she opens up about her inner journey and her relationship with alcohol.
‘Dark place’: The Pretty Little Liars actress, 33, appeared on The Diary of a CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett, where she opened up about going to a ‘dark place’
Addiction: Now, she has spoken out about her addiction for the first time, saying it was a “self-defeating” coping mechanism.
Lucy captioned her photo: ‘Bear with me, this is an alternative Valentine’s Day post. This is a post about self love and the biggest thing I’ve ever done.
‘On January 2, 2023 I celebrated one year of sobriety.’
She went on to add in the post to her 24.5 million followers: “While this journey has been mostly private, tonight I felt compelled to let anyone struggling know that they are not alone and that they are loved.”
Now, she has spoken out about her addiction for the first time, saying it was a “self-defeating” coping mechanism.
Lucy said, ‘Sometimes you have to go to a dark place to get to that point… It’s dark and disgusting and scary.
‘I wish I could go back and say to my sixteen year old self, buckle up girl. Let’s go through some shit.
Speaking about his relationship with alcohol, he said: “And then the coping mechanisms were incredibly self-defeating.
“I’ve been working to get sober since I was 20 years old…I just held on to the belief that the real Lucy came out when I was drinking.”
‘I tried to change for my mother, I tried to change for my career.’
“One of my best friends died of alcoholism, and that still hasn’t made me want to be sober… None of it works.”
She added: “The alcohol is not the problem, the problem is this feeling inside of me.”
Lucy then opened up about suffering from an eating disorder, saying, “When we have those successes in life, we have an assumption that they’ll fix a lot of things.”
I struggled with an eating disorder, because society makes it very hard to like the way you look.
“I hated myself so much that I couldn’t even meet basic needs like food…I didn’t feel worthy of success, career, or the people in my life.”
Lucy has kept quiet about her journey with addiction over the years, but previously admitted in 2017 that she wanted to quit alcohol because she no longer had “interest” in parties and wanted to be the “best version” of herself. .
Celebrating: Last week, Lucy celebrated a year of sobriety in a Valentine’s Day post about self-love.
Self love: The actress announced that she had reached the milestone on January 2, after deciding to give up alcohol for good in January 2022.
She said: ‘I’m always trying to surround myself with better people and be the best version of myself that I can be.
‘I know it sounds disgusting to hear people say that, but why not? I go home and my dad says, ‘You LA hippie with your crystals and your SoulCycle!
I always used to make fun of those people, but now I think it’s just magic. I’m almost 28 years old, but… I think I only realized who I was a year ago.
‘I know it seems silly because it’s just hair. But at one point, I thought, ‘Why don’t I admit that I’m different? I guess cutting my hair was like me finally saying, ‘I don’t give a shit.’