Lucy Hale Shares the Exact Moment She Decided to Commit to Sobriety After Years Struggling With Alcohol Addiction

This Valentine’s Day, former Pretty Little Liars star Lucy Hale surprised the world by sharing her journey with sobriety on Instagram. In the caption of the post, which showed a picture of a lavender-colored cake with “1 year” written on it, Hale shared she was celebrating her first sobriety anniversary. Now, a little after her reveal, she’s opening up to The Diary of a CEO podcast about her ups and downs with addiction and sobriety.

“I’ve been working on getting sober since I was 20, I’m 33,” she said. “It takes time. It took time and it took patience with myself.”

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In the candid conversation, which saw Hale break down in tears at some points, Hale admitted to sticking to drinking because she thought being under the influence brought out her “truest self.” She explained, “I just held on to that belief that the real Lucy came out when she was drinking. It also quieted my mind… my mind just doesn’t shut off and it’s exhausting.”

Hale also added that she used to “textbook binge drinker” and would often “blackout” after drinking and not remember anything that happened the previous day.

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“I’ve never had a period of my life where I was a normal moderate drinker,” she said. “It was always, ‘Let’s 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. I have an allergy to alcohol. I cannot drink. I view it as an allergy; my brain doesn’t work the same way as someone who can just have a glass of wine. It always wants more. It’s craving that feeling.”

Hale also shared she tried to get sober many times, only to fail time and time again. “I tried to change for boyfriends, I tried to change for my mom, I tried to change for my career, I tried to change for vain reasons,” she said, before adding “None of that s*** works.”

For her, it all aligned when she knew she had to do it for her own sake. “I had to and wanted to get sober January 2nd, 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.'” Though the path to sobriety is never easy, and will undoubtedly come with its ups and down, we’re proud of Hale for choosing herself and committing to that promise. One year strong!

Before you go, click here to see celebrities who have struggled with drug or alcohol addiction.

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