Michelle Heaton 'accepted she was going to die' before Katie Price inspired her

08 February 2024 , 06:23

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Michelle Heaton and Hugh Hanley with daughter Faith and son AJ (Image: Dave Hogan/Hogan Media/REX/Shutterstock)

Michelle Heaton, the former Liberty X star, has revealed that she had accepted her death during her battle with alcohol and drug addiction.

However, it was her friend Katie Price who inspired her to get sober. The 44 year old singer, who has been candid about her recovery journey, shared more details about her struggles on the Ice Breakers podcast with Matt Evers and Frankie Seaman. The podcast is all about Dancing on Ice - a show Michelle appeared on in 2023.

Despite auditioning twice for Dancing on Ice before her appearance, Michelle admitted she was in a "dark place" at the time. She also revealed that seeing Katie Price, 45, sober and in a good place made her realise she could do it too. She said: "I was in hospital quite a few times and I was told that if I didn't stop [drinking], I wouldn't be able to... I wouldn't live. Basically I was dying."

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Michelle Heaton said that Katie Price inspired her to get clean and sober (Zak Hussein/PA Wire)

"And at that moment in time, I was with my friend Katie Price and she was sober and clean and she was in a really good place and I hadn't seen her like that and for quite a while." Michelle confessed, "And I thought, 'oh my God - like we are very similar - and if she can do it, maybe I can'." and added: "It took seeing somebody who I was close to be good to realise that maybe I could get like that."

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Further elaborating on her turning point, she explained, "It was that moment, that one realisation that, 'wow, she can do it, maybe I can'." Michelle went on to say: "I do believe that is a lot of people's connections when they realise that they can have help when they meet somebody that they know [who has gone through it], or one of their friends that was an alcoholic and got better."

Reflecting on her past, Michelle said: "I remember just feeling done. I was just exhausted. My body was battered. I knew I was gonna die. I had, maybe the week before, I had this epiphany that this is how I was gonna die. Like I had accepted it and I have said that. Like I've got my kids, my family. And like I obviously love everybody."

Michelle Heaton has been open about her alcohol addiction battle (Mike Marsland/WireImage)

Fighting away tears, she said, "I don't want to hurt anybody, but I was hurting them so much. And I couldn't see a way out. And that tiny glimmer of a way out just made me say, 'that's it, I'm done'. And I haven't had a drink since."

It's known that Katie helped Michelle find back her path by paying for her rehab stint in The Priory last year. During her recent appearance on the Ice Breakers podcast, Michelle candidly admitted that she'd "probably had a drink" before previous Dancing on Ice try-outs, concluding, "It came to a point where I wasn't functioning."

"My last audition previous to the year that I got on the show, I think I wanted it so badly that I was just all over the place, and quite erratic. I would have probably had a drink before the audition because that's what I did. You know, I couldn't face the world or leaving the house without a drink at that point in my life."

You can listen to Ice Breakers with Matt Evers and Frankie Seaman now.

Lauren Fletcher