Lucy Hale has been very open about her sobriety journey after choosing to stop drinking alcohol
The Pretty Little Liars alum said on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast in November 2023 that her addiction to alcohol “got really dark” at certain points, explaining, “I was very sad. I was very scared.”
Hale had her first experience with alcohol as a pre-teen on vacation.
“I blacked out at 12 years old. I don’t remember what happened. I threw up. I got very sick, and I remember being so distraught when I realized what had happened,” she recalled. “I remember shame after every experience drinking because my drinking was never normal. It was very clear I was drinking to escape something, even at a young age.”
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She began drinking regularly after turning 18 years old, and she realized she had “a problem” in her early 20s. The actress first went to rehab at age 23, a secret she kept from her Pretty Little Liars costars at the time, and she called the decision a “pivotal moment” for her life.
While it took Hale nearly a decade after her initial rehab stint to find success with sobriety, she’s not looking back anytime soon.
Keep reading to see Hale’s quotes about being sober.
Feeling Good In Her Skin
“I think for me it was, ‘Oh, I just feel safe in my body again.’ I wouldn’t give this feeling up for anything,” Hale said during an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show in January 2024. “It’s just amazing and then it’s just a ripple effect and I think if more people in general, especially women, can show, like, the dirty, gross, ugly parts that we don’t want to talk about, I think that is beautiful and brave and so cool.”
2-Year Sobriety Anniversary
“The interactions, conversations and moments of vulnerability from people I know, people I used to know, from people I’ve hurt, from people who’ve hurt me, from strangers and even people on the internet have given my life so much color and meaning,” the actress wrote via Instagram, celebrating her two-year milestone on January 2, 2024. “Those experiences have been my favorite takeaway from this last year. To every person I have connected with … thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
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Coming Face-to-Face With Her Problems
Hale called herself “a textbook binge drinker” while reflecting on her decision to stop using alcohol during an appearance on “The Diary of a CEO” podcast in February 2023 .
“I have been working on getting sober since I was 20. I’m 33. It takes time. It took time. It took patience with myself,” she said, explaining that she thought the “real Lucy” came out when she drank. “Guess what? ‘Real Lucy’ did come out, but it was that rage and pain that I had been holding on to for so long, but it also quieted my mind. My brain just doesn’t shut off, and it’s exhausting.”
Changing for Good
“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. ‘I’ll stop drinking for that.’ None of that s–t works. I had to and wanted to get sober,” she said on “The Diary of a CEO” podcast. “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.’”
1 Year Sober
“While this journey has mostly been private, I felt compelled tonight to let anyone who is struggling know that you are not alone and you are loved,” Hale wrote via Instagram in February 2023, one month after quietly celebrating her first year of sobriety.
Hitting ‘Rock Bottom’
Hale got real about making the decision in January 2022 to start her sobriety journey.
“I knew if I continued on that path, I would’ve lost everything I cared about,” she told People. “It was the scariest choice in my life, but also it’s been the best gift. When I made that change, everything else changed. My whole life has changed.”
The actress explained that she found alcohol as a teenager when feeling “young and misunderstood” as a way to cope.
“I definitely had to go through my own process of getting sober,” Hale continued. “It took many, many, many years, many relapses, many dark moments, many falling on my face quite literally, but figuratively as well, to figure out what was working in my life, finding out why I was drinking, because removing alcohol is just one part of it.”
