These celebrities share their journey with sobriety and what life looks like being alcohol-free
Feeling sober curious? Good news, if you giving up booze for good you'll be in the company of many sober celebrities.
Anne Hathaway, for example, has recently opened up about hitting five years sober, which she sees as a bigger milestone than turning 40.
“I don’t take it that seriously,” The Idea Of You star said in an interview with The New York Times. “There are so many other things I identify as milestones.
“I don’t normally talk about it, but I am over five years sober. That feels like a milestone to me. Forty feels like a gift. The fact of the matter is I hesitate at calling things ‘middle age’ simply because I can be a semantic stickler, and I could get hit by a car later today. We don’t know if this is middle age. We don’t know anything.”
GLAMOUR has rounded up 15 more sober celebrities and their alcohol-free stories.
Lily Allen
In an interview with GLAMOUR last year, Lily opened up about how completely being sober has changed her. “Pretty much every aspect of my life has changed as a result of my sobriety," she said. "I actually don't even know if I'd be alive if I'm honest if I hadn't got sober.”
Miley Cyrus
Miley has spoken candidly about decisions she made while under the influence of alcohol, contacting people she'd detached from and acting impulsively, and her motivation to move away from that and prioritising waking up feeling “100%, 100% of the time”.
Nicki Minaj
Nicki has been open about being “sober and loving life”. This seems to be rooted in distancing herself from substance abuse, and has spoken in the past about this addiction running through her family, with her dad suffering with it.
“Once an addict, always an addict," she told Vogue. "I feel like if you’ve ever experienced addiction to anything, which I have, you always have to think twice and three times about the choices that you make.”
Eva Mendes
After openly checking herself into rehab for alcohol abuse, Eva has lived a sober life. Speaking to Interview, she has spoken about the importance of not putting a “negative twist” on going to rehab.
“The other day I was reading an article. I don’t even remember who the actress was, but she’s been around for a long time. She said something like, ‘I’m proud that I’ve had a whole career without making it to rehab.’ That’s such a negative twist on it,” she said. "I’m proud of people who have the determination and the fearlessness to actually go and face their demons and get better. This is a life or death situation. I’m not a spokesperson, but I want to support people for their decisions when they do go in and get help."
Demi Lovato
After suffering a near-fatal drug overdose in 2018, Demi has been on the path to recovery. In her docuseries Dancing With The Devil, she spoke about the distinction between “California sober” – only drinking alcohol and smoking weed in moderation, with no other substances involved – and being "sober sober".
She explained that she set herself up for failure trying to be “California sober” as she is “such a black and white thinker”.
Blake Lively
The Gossip Girl star perfectly summed up her experiences of sober living in a chat with BAZAAR.com: "I don't drink, because I don't like the effects of alcohol, but I like being a part of it—I like being social, and I like people coming together."
Drew Barrymore
She has called giving up alcohol “liberating”, describing her decision as partially a way to stop a vicious cycle of hedonism within her own family.
"I think, for me, stopping drinking is one of the most honouring things I can do to the Barrymore name because we have all been such hedonists,' she said in an interview with People. “It's just like, you know what? This didn't work for our family, and I'm going to stop it.”
Cara Delevinge
After going to rehab and becoming a member of a 12-step programme for her recovery in summer 2022, Cara has spoken about the importance of being honest about where you're at on your journey.
“If I can do it, anyone can," she told Vogue. "But you need to communicate and be honest about it as much as you can — especially with yourself.”
Florence Welch
After having issues with alcohol in the early days of her career, Florence has now been sober for nine years. She described it on podcast The Way We Are with Munroe Bergdorf as “the best thing I ever did”.
Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer has gone on the record to say she's never touched a drop of alcohol – because she's never been interested to. This has meant she has has to find other inspirations than her own experiences when playing people with substance issues on screen.
“I’ve never had a drink in my life. I’m sober," she said on the Chelsea Lately Show. "Normally as an actor, you have things to pull from. [But when playing a heroin addict] I was like, ‘I don’t know what it’s like to feel any of that.” I’ve never been interested [in alcohol]. Nobody ever believes it…"
The original article can be found on GLAMOUR UK.