Lucy Hale opens up about alcoholism, says she's now two and a half years sober
American actress Lucy Hale opened up about her alcohol abuse, saying she's now two and a half years sober.
In an interview with PEOPLE Magazine, Hale hopes her sobriety journey will resonate with even one person.
“When I got sober, my intention was never to be the poster child of sobriety,” the 35-year-old said. “But when I began speaking about it, it came from a place of needing to heal and take my power back.”
Hale noted that people who are "feeling seen" and are relating to her story have been "the biggest gift."
“When women are together healing and growing, it's just .... it's palpable," she said. "It's just the best feeling to witness women blossoming and overcoming the impossible.”
Friendly House, a woman's addiction recovery center, gave her the 2024 Humanitarian Award.
Asked if she had a message to her older self upon receiving the award, she said the 20-something Hale wouldn't "probably believe" her.
“I can't believe I'm at a place in my life where I can talk about the things that used to bring me so much shame,” she said.
Hale noted that since "a very young age," she "always felt alone and misunderstood."
"So as a teenager, I found alcohol — which of course shut my brain off," she said. "And it worked for me for a while, until it turned really dark."
As she turned to alcohol in her 20s, Hale said she "always had a desire to change," but with alcoholism, as is "with any form of addiction," one becomes "powerless to this obsession."
“I definitely had to go through my own process of getting sober," she said. "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.”
Her battle with alcoholism came even as she was a rising star in the hit series Pretty Little Liars.
“If I'm perfectly honest, without my career and without that creative outlet, I don't know if I would've made it," she said. “I think that show and my love of what I do was my North Star truly, it really gave me purpose, and still gives me purpose."
On the morning of Jan. 2, 2022, Hale said she chose to do everything to get sober after she had hit "rock bottom."
"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," she said.
Reflecting on her sobriety journey, Hale acknowledged that it's "painful and uncomfortable" but "worth every moment."
"What sobriety has taught me is to take things as they come and enjoy every moment of every day," she said. "I have big dreams, big aspirations, but where my life is at now is just trying to be as present as possible.”
Following her breakthrough role in Pretty Little Liars, Hale also starred in other series like Life Sentence, Katy Keene, and Ragdoll.
She also appeared in movies like The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song, Scream 4, Truth or Dare, Dude, Fantasy Island, and The Hating Game.