“Pretty Little Liars” actress Lucy Hale discussed Thursday her battle with alcohol addiction now that she’s gotten sober.
The 33-year-old actress revealed private details about her struggle during an appearance on “The Diary of a CEO” podcast. Hale recalled how she started drinking alcohol at the age of 14 and things spiraled out of control after that. She talked about how many “emotional rock bottoms” she experienced during that time.
“Dozens, and that’s why it was so hard because I’m like ‘Oh, I thought we went to the depths of hell … how could it be worse?’” she said during the emotional interview.
The actress went on to say she hasn’t discussed these personal issues during interviews yet. The 90-minute podcast interview also detailed Hale’s battle with an eating disorder.
“I have never talked publicly about being sober – I have a little over a year of sobriety,” Hale explained. “I have been working on getting sober since I was 20; I’m 33. It took time. It took patience with myself.”
“I just held on to that belief that the real Lucy came out when she was drinking,” she continued. “It also quieted my mind … my brain just doesn’t shut off and it’s exhausting. I was a textbook binge drinker, blackout, wouldn’t remember what I did or what I said, which is scary.”
Hale had a breakthrough role in “Pretty Little Liars” and has been in several other Hollywood productions, including the TV shows “Life Sentence,” “Katy Keene,” and “Ragdoll” plus films like “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2,” “A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song,” and “Scream 4.” She also dabbled in a singing career and was one of the five winners on the reality singing competition show “American Juniors.”
The Teen Choice Awards winner said she was never able to be a “normal moderate drinker.”
“I was willing to go to this crazy dark place every time,” Hale said during the podcast conversation. “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.”
She also discussed all the ways she tried to quit drinking and failed. “I tried to change for boyfriends, I tried to change for my mum, I tried to change for my career, I tried to change for vain reasons – ‘I’ll look younger and look skinnier. I’ll stop drinking for that,’” the Hollywood star said.
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“One of my best friends died of alcoholism and that still didn’t make me want to get sober,” Hale continued. “None of that s*** works. Alcohol isn’t the problem. The problem is this feeling inside of me.”
In January, the “Pretty Little Liars” cast member celebrated one year of sobriety and posted a photo of a cake on Instagram. “While this journey has mostly been private,” she wrote in part, “I felt compelled tonight to let anyone who is struggling know that you are not alone and you are loved.”