03 November 2023 , 17:20
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Michelle McManus, the former Pop Idol winner, has opened up about her decision to quit drinking after experiencing blackouts and embarrassing incidents.
The singer, who clinched the title in the 2003 series of the talent show, has been sober for four years since she stopped drinking when she fell pregnant with her first child. The 43-year-old, now a presenter on BBC Radio Scotland, admitted that she had an unhealthy relationship with alcohol from her early twenties.
She confessed that she used to drink to cope with low self-esteem, but by her mid-thirties, she couldn't recall getting home after nights out and began worrying about her safety. Speaking on the Why Aren't You Drinking podcast, the Glasgow-based mum-of-two revealed: "I stopped drinking in 2019 on the day I got my positive pregnancy test and it was a blessing for so many reasons.
She confessed that she used to drink to cope with low self-esteem (mirror.co.uk)
Michelle has been sober for four years (ladym_mcmanus/Instagram)"Falling pregnant helped me make the massive decision to give up alcohol which I had been too scared to make. I didn't really know who I was without alcohol, not because I felt really that I was dependent on it, but it had been such a huge part of my life and my persona."
"It was a form of escapism when I maybe wasn't reading such nice things about me or I didn't feel as confident as I do now. Alcohol was a way for me to go 'Goodbye world'," she added. "For a long time I never got very drunk and I was one of those ones who could drink everyone under the table.
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"Then something happened in my mid-thirties where after a couple of drinks it was like I had dived off a cliff." The singer continued: "I was getting so drunk, I couldn't remember getting home and I was making a fool of myself. I never had a full-stop button. I went from being that person who was a great drunk and could remember everything to being the person that everyone said to the next day 'Are you okay?'.
"I started to spiral at that point. After every time I would drink I would say 'I'm not drinking again,' but then the weekend would come around and I didn't know how to function without going out drinking with my friends."
Michelle has not touched a drop of alcohol since 2019 and has no regrets about giving up. She said she still socialises regularly with friends and enjoys non-alcoholic beers and wines.
She added: "I didn't dare to do it until I fell pregnant but I have never looked back. There is no place in my life just now for alcohol and I feel my life is greatly enhanced without it. My mental health is so much better, I feel I am a better person and I feel healthier. I wish I hadn't waited so long to give up."
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