Michelle Heaton marks five years of sobriety and living her life without the ‘anxiety, lying and manipulation’ of alcoholism

Michelle Heaton has celebrated her sobriety on Instagram on Monday as she marked five years sober and everything she has gained since her last drink. 

At the height of her addiction, the Liberty X star, 46, drank two bottles of wine and a bottle of vodka nearly every day and nearly died after being hospitalised in 2021 during her battle with drink. 

Now, Michelle said she is living her life without the ‘anxiety, lying and manipulation’ of alcoholism as she shared a sweet photo with her husband Hugh and their two children, daughter Faith, 13, and son AJ, 11.

She wrote: ‘Tomorrow marks five years since I closed the door on addiction, but today is a powerful anniversary that matters just as much to me.. to my family.

‘5 years ago day I had my last drink and chose to ask for help. A day where I decided I deserved more than the repeat cycle I was in.’

Since quitting alcohol, Michelle said she has become more ‘resilient and honest’ and urged others ‘struggling with addiction’ to get help. 

She continued: ‘Since then, life has became beautiful again, steadier mornings, less anxiety, the lying and manipulation has stopped and an inner strength I had to build one day at a time.

‘Five years on, it’s not just about what I gave up, but everything I have gained: resilience, honesty, and a version of myself that shows up fully.

‘Today feels like a full-circle moment, a reminder that one decision, to admit I needed help, has given me a life beyond my wildest dreams. It has given my wonderful husband his wife back and my incredible kids their mum.

‘If you are struggling google alcohol awareness / addiction help and there is so many help lines and call centre’s so many more then there was back then.

‘It is possible to live a life filled with hope, faith and courage’.

Last year, Michelle told the Daily Mail that a night out with Katie Price made her realise it was time to embrace sobriety. 

Michelle explained that she had already acknowledged that she had a problem but didn’t feel able to confide in anyone.

She explained: ‘There were many times when I wanted to stop drinking but I couldn’t and then I didn’t want to tell anybody I couldn’t because I’d already told them I was stopping.

‘It was frustrating thinking, “why can’t I stop, I can’t tell anybody because no one’s going to have the same problem.” So I was out with a few friends and one was Katie and they weren’t drinking.’

Michelle continued: ‘It made me think “what the f**k? I’ve come here to have a good time.” But I wasn’t having a good time, that’s the point, the drink was not giving me any joy.

‘And then I just thought, “God, if they can do it, if she can do it, if they could be sober, what did they do?”

‘And then as soon as I accepted I needed help, help was always there.’ 

Katie went sober for a year after a stint at The Priory rehab centre where she was seeking treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. 

Michelle’s struggles with alcoholism began during her time in Liberty X, where she revealed there were times the band would be in the bar drinking in the mornings ahead of appearing on TV shows. 

She added: ‘I never thought I could perform without having a drink because I suffer from impostor syndrome. I thought I needed a drink to squash the nerves.

‘So the first few gigs I did after coming out of rehab were so different. I felt this high afterwards I’d never felt before because I’d always squashed it with alcohol.’

Michelle added that rehab not only helped her with her alcoholism but with dealing with how reactive she used to be as well as teaching her to establish boundaries. 

‘I’ve allowed myself to be in situations I should never have been in,’ she explained. 

‘I said yes to anything, to staying out all night, to like partying with people I’d just met. I had absolutely zero boundaries.

‘That’s not healthy, not just on an alcohol side, but with my pride, my self-esteem and my self-worth.

‘So through treatment and realising like what kind of areas I had let slide, the narrative that’s changed going forward is huge.

‘I don’t get it perfect. I kick off sometimes. You know, life can get messy and I lose my temper and shout, absolutely. 

‘But before my reaction to the small things would be catastrophic. And now I’ve also learnt how to say no.’

While Michelle admits she has an addictive personality and always had a complicated relationship with alcohol, her drinking spiralled after she had a full hysterectomy at the age of 35. 

She discovered she had the BRCA2 mutation gene, giving her an increased risk of getting cancer.

Michelle decided to have a preventative double mastectomy, before then also undergoing a hysterectomy – a surgical procedure to remove the womb – to reduce her risk of ovarian cancer. 

She explained: ‘I had an 85 percent risk so it was an easy decision. I didn’t think about the consequences, or what that might look like and the way I coped with that wasn’t right.

‘Not that I would have changed it, you know, we had already been blessed with two healthy kids, but it changed my life, going through the menopause so early.

‘I don’t blame that for being an alcoholic but it was definitely a catalyst to how quickly it happened after that.

‘Nobody can see your hormones or understand what you’re going through and at that age with my peers, nobody really wants to talk about it. I found myself not fitting in.

‘I didn’t want to go out, I felt s**t about myself, I didn’t want to have sex, I didn’t want to look at anybody and alcohol was my way out.’

For help with alcohol addiction, contact Alcoholics Anonymous for free on 0800 917 7650 or email [email protected]