One for the Road: The Quit Drinking Podcast

This week on One For The Road, Dave is joined by Liberty X star Michelle Heaton for one of the rawest and most brutally honest conversations of the series.From pop fame, red carpets and chart success to addiction, intervention, rehab and rock bottom — Michelle opens up about the reality behind the headlines. She speaks candidly about living with the BRCA gene, undergoing a double mastectomy and hysterectomy, the identity crisis that followed, and how alcohol and cocaine slowly took over her life.Michelle shares the terrifying depths of addiction, drinking vodka at 7am, hiding bottles around the house, pushing away the people she loved most and reaching a point where she genuinely believed she was going to die.Now sober and rebuilding her life one day at a time, Michelle talks about recovery, boundaries, motherhood, self-worth and finding hope after complete chaos.This episode is fearless, heartbreaking, funny in places and deeply inspiring — a conversation about survival, sobriety and what happens when you finally decide you want to live.If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice, and links for Michelle.https://www.instagram.com/wonderwomanshel/https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk/https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/https://alcoholchange.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella AttanasioInstagram - @Daniellattanasio Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Millie Gooch is the founder of Sober Girl Society, author of The Sober Girl Society Handbook, and one of the loudest voices in the UK sober community for women in their twenties.But four years ago she was a blackout drinker.She didn't drink at all until 18, then went to uni, took three bar jobs, got paid in alcohol, and came out the other side a four-or-five-night-a-week binge drinker. PR and journalism after that. Free Bar Fridays. Ending up in Dover at 4am because she'd fallen asleep on the train. Three weeks in Thailand spent almost entirely drunk or hungover. A six-year relationship breakup at 24 that sent her head-first into another year of going out and getting hammered.She read a Stylist magazine interview with Catherine Gray on the tube one hungover morning. Took a photo of the article. Did nothing about it. Then in February 2018, after a night she couldn't remember at all, she downloaded the audiobook and listened to it for eight straight hours on the worst hangover of her life.That was her last drink.In this episode she walks through how Sober Girl Society started by accident, the trap of becoming "the sober person" instead of just a person, and what changes between year one and year four.If you enjoy One For The Road, then click follow to be notified of the release of our next episode.You can also access further content and shows on my Patreon account by clicking the link below.https://www.patreon.com/user?u=62824759&fan_landing=trueIf you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice, and links for Millie.Instagram.com/sobergirlsocietyInstagram.com/milliegoochhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Sober-Girl-Society-Handbook-empowering/dp/1787634124/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1636881084&sr=8-1https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk/https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/https://alcoholchange.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasiohttps://www.grownuphustle.com/Instagram - @daniellattanasio Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ollie Ollerton was 10 years old when a 50-pound chimpanzee pinned him to the floor of a circus enclosure and tried to kill him. He fought it off. Nearly lost his arm to gangrene. Then spent the next thirty-something years chasing danger to feel something close to that adrenaline again.Royal Marines. Special Forces. Iraq, where he drove drunk through Baghdad on his own with an AK-47 in the back of an armoured Mercedes. Steroids. Valium. A bottle most nights to muffle whatever was underneath. He was the life and soul of every party. He was also barely keeping it together.Ollie is now sober, runs his company Breakpoint, hosts SAS Who Dares Wins, and uses his platform to talk honestly about what alcohol actually cost him.You'll hear about: the chimp attack that shaped 30 years of his life; "personality rental" and why none of it was ever really him; the moment in Baghdad when he realised he was knocking on death's door; why he had to dip back into drinking to be sure; what it actually means to choose short-term discomfort for long-term gain.If you've been telling yourself you've got it under control, this one's for you.If you enjoy One For The Road, then click follow to be notified of the release of our next episode.If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice, and links for Ollie.https://ollieollerton.com/https://www.instagram.com/ollie.ollerton/https://twitter.com/ollie_ollertonhttps://www.wearewithyou.org.uk/https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/https://alcoholchange.org.uk/-Martinezhttps://www.grownuphustle.com/Instagram - @daniellattanasioHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucy Norfolk met Daniel backstage at a London theatre. He was funny, kind, the centre of every room. He was also, slowly, becoming an alcoholic.This is the story rarely told. Not the person in recovery. The partner watching it unfold. Lucy takes us through years of loving Dan: the hiding, the vodka behind the chair while she bathed, the first fit at the park in front of their children, the shattered hip at 38, the osteoporosis, the broken back, the day he turned yellow.Dan didn't make it out of the hospital. His heart, kidneys, and corneas saved three other lives.Lucy is sharing this so partners don't feel alone. So families know where to find help before it's too late. So the word 'alcoholic' stops being whispered.Connect with Lucy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucy_norfolk_/If you have been affected by this podcast here are some links to support you.https://www.cruse.org.uk/?s=alcoholhttps://al-anonuk.org.uk/https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk/https://www.actiononaddiction.org.uk/Connect with Soberdave on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/And Vist my Website for more support: https://www.soberdave.co.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does it take to finally quit drinking when you feel like you can’t stop?In this episode, we dive into a powerful sobriety journey that explores the reality of blackout drinking, alcohol addiction recovery, and mental health.Jordan Hurt shares his story of growing up around alcohol, developing addictive patterns early, and using drinking as a way to cope with identity, pressure, and pain. What started as social drinking quickly turned into blackout drinking, hospital visits, and complete loss of control.As his addiction progressed, his life became increasingly chaotic — from DUIs and broken relationships to isolation and severe mental health struggles that ultimately led to a stay in a psychiatric ward.This conversation is an honest look at:What blackout drinking actually looks likeWhy some people cannot moderate alcoholThe mental health impact of addictionThe turning point that leads to real changeWhat alcohol addiction recovery really requiresWhy quitting drinking is a process, not a single decisionIf you’ve ever questioned your drinking, struggled to stop, or wondered what a real sobriety journey looks like — this episode will give you clarity and perspective.https://www.instagram.com/jordvnhurt/https://www.instagram.com/queerityapp/https://queerityapp.com/If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of One for the Road, Sober Dave sits down with Allie Bailey, ultra runner, running coach, speaker and author, for an honest conversation about what really happens after you quit drinking.This is emotional sobriety. The uncomfortable bits. The parts of recovery nobody warns you about.Allie started drinking at 14, spent years as a functioning alcoholic in the music industry, hit rock bottom in her late thirties and quit without AA or formal support. She has been sober four and a half years.They talk about losing your identity when you stop drinking, relationships and intimacy sober, attachment styles, core values and why the resilience built through years of drinking can actually serve you in sober life.If you are thinking about quitting alcohol, in early sobriety, or well into your journey and wondering why it still feels hard, this episode is for you.Allie's new book 31 Days is available on Amazon, Audible and at adventurebooks.com. Buy direct and get a free workbook included.Follow Allie on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ab_runs/Allie's Book: https://amzn.eu/d/03O7NRTzIf you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella AttanasioInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I sit down with Steve Smith to talk about a side of drinking that often gets overlooked.Life can look good on the outside—work, responsibilities, everything in place—but underneath, something feels off.Low energy. Poor sleep. Always needing something to take the edge off at the end of the day.Not rock bottom. But not where you want to be either.We talk about what it looks like to question your drinking, even if you wouldn’t call it a serious alcohol problem, and how that “grey area drinking” can quietly hold you back.Some of the things we get into:The subtle signs alcohol is holding you backFeeling “fine” but not fully yourselfUsing alcohol to cope with stress and shut the day offWhat actually changes when you quit drinkingIf you’ve ever wondered whether it’s time to stop drinking, or asked yourself, “Do I have a drinking problem?”—this one will probably hit.Going alcohol-free didn’t change who Steve was — it changed what he believed was possible.Instagram: @Steve SmithWebsite :www.soberilliant.comLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-smith-5917519a/If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sue Tickle was a senior NHS manager, a mum of two, and secretly drinking two to three bottles of wine every single night. Nobody at work knew. Nobody stepped in. Then one morning after blacking out at her sister's hen party, her mum rang and said five words that changed her life. "You're turning into your dad."Sue never touched another drink. That was over seven years ago. In this episode she and Sober Dave talk about what it really looks like to function on the outside while falling apart behind closed doors, the grief that sent her spiraling, self sabotage in sobriety, and why putting the glass down is only the beginning. Sue now runs women's wellness retreats in Bali and coaches others through sobriety using breathwork and sound healing.To read more of my story over the 7 years – All Shiny and New – Sue TickleTo join sober space Facebook Page – Sober Space | FacebookFollow me on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/sober_space_To subscribe to the daily coaching group for a small fee - Tickle Life CoachingIf you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when you're winning championships but blacking out every single night? Five-time champion jockey Oisin Murphy opens up about the moment he knew he had to quit drinking. He started drinking at home alone in 2017 to escape the pressure of racing, texting his driver to pick up bottles of vodka before he even left the track. He convinced himself alcohol was helping him perform. By COVID he was drinking four or five bottles of rosé a day, and years of blackouts left him unable to remember where he had ridden the day before. After a drink-driving crash in April 2025 where his passenger was rushed to hospital, he finally accepted that moderation would never be possible for him. Now sober through AA and taking it one day at a time, Oisin shares what recovery really looks like when the whole world is watching.https://linktr.ee/oismurphyhttps://www.instagram.com/oisindmurphy/?hl=enIf you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on Instagram @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate Renninson spent decades as the one who would drink everyone under the table and wore it like a badge of honor. This is a sobriety story that so many women will recognize. Growing up with a difficult mother who never showed her warmth, Kate found that alcohol gave her the attention and acceptance she craved. She carried that into marriage, motherhood, and the whole mummy wine culture of Sunday roasts and bottomless brunches, blacking out almost every time she went out and waking up to dread and sticky weed on her dress. Everything changed when she picked up Clare Pooley's Sober Diaries off a stranger's wall in Wimbledon and read it on a trip to Dubrovnik. She got on the flight home knowing something was different and has not looked back since. Now over four years sober, Kate says she finally feels calm, content, and like she is actually seeing the world for the first time.https://www.instagram.com/detoxikated/If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Liver cirrhosis nearly took everything from Dan Sheridan, and the moment doctors told him he might not survive the night changed his life forever. Dan grew up feeling like he never fitted in, lost his dad to cancer, and spent years drinking 18 cans of Stella a day just to stop the shaking. At 40 he was told he had cirrhosis of the liver and two years to live, but he walked straight to Sainsbury's and bought 36 tins. It took collapsing in hospital, flatlining, and waking up to machines and tubes before something finally shifted. A woman named Nula at his transplant assessment told him the hardest truth he ever heard: not drinking and being sober are not the same thing. Dan got his transplant, found love with his wife Clara through TikTok, and is now five and a half years sober and grateful for every single day. You can follow Dan's story on his social media where he shares openly about recovery and organ donation awareness.https://www.instagram.com/danman147/Tik Tok @mrssheridanshusbandIf you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is for every mom who has ever rushed the bedtime story so she could get back to the wine. Caitlyn's story of finally choosing to quit drinking will stop you in your tracks. She grew up moving between 17 houses and nine schools, started drinking at 10, was smoking weed daily by 16, and fell into cocaine in a Kensington penthouse before she was 18. For years she hid her addiction behind the mommy wine culture, sneaking drinks at school pickup and wishing her kids would just go to bed so she could carry on. One day sitting in her garden, it hit her like a freight train: she was killing her children's mom. That moment sent her to a 12 step meeting where she heard people saying out loud the things she had only ever thought. Caitlyn is now over three years clean, sponsors other women in recovery, takes meetings into women's prisons, and is studying to become an addiction therapist. You can follow her on social media where she shares her story to help other women know they are not alone.Insta https://www.instagram.com/soberasamotherfocused/Tik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@soberasamotherfocused?If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on Instagram @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dave was gone by one o'clock on Christmas Day. Carving the turkey half cut, nearly taking his fingers off, while the rest of the family clinked glasses around him. That was the old version of Christmas.In this special Christmas episode, Dave sits down again with William Porter, author of Alcohol Explained, to talk honestly about why the festive season is so loaded for anyone questioning their drinking. They cover cultural conditioning, the science behind fading effect bias (where you only remember the 15 minutes of "fun" and forget the 23 hours of feeling awful), family triggers, loneliness, and the financial stress that keeps people reaching for the bottle from October through February.You'll hear about: practical tips for your first sober Christmas; how to set boundaries when everyone around you is drinking; why moderation rarely works the way you plan it; and how to set yourself up for Dry January without white-knuckling it.If Christmas feels heavy right now, this one's for you.      William Porter (@alcoholexplained) • Instagram photos and videos instagram.com      If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ash Malimba was 12 when he had his first drink on a football tour. By 15, he was deep in London's rave scene doing pills, cocaine, and ketamine. By his early 20s, he was the frontman of a band touring the world, with promoters handing him whatever he wanted.Three suicide attempts followed. So did years of failed sobriety attempts and an AA experience that didn't stick. Then he lost a friend to cancer, went on a two day bender, and sat on the end of his bed crying out to God for the first time.You'll hear about: starting drugs and alcohol at 12; ADHD and the dopamine connection to addiction; turning down a Premier League football trial to keep partying; three suicide attempts and what intervened each time; the prayer that changed everything; and what 7 months sober looks like as a working musician.If you're in your 20s or 30s and wondering whether you can actually quit, this one's for you.If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alexi Cruz grew up chasing chaos because it was the only thing that felt like home. In this episode of One for the Road, the Brighton hairdresser and creative opens up about a childhood split between two cultures, parents who couldn't stay together, and a pattern of drinking that started at 14 just to belong. From losing her first love Tom to cancer, surviving an attack abroad, and cycling through relationships with addicts, Alexi kept reaching for the bottle every time life got too loud or too quiet. Then one night she fell in her bathroom, woke up with two black eyes, and knew the next fall might be her last. She shares how an ADHD diagnosis, low sensory living, and finally asking for help changed everything. You'll hear about: masking with alcohol to fit in, the link between sensory sensitivity and addiction, grief that goes unprocessed for years, and building a sober life rooted in self-acceptance. Listen now and share with someone who needs to hear this.If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brad Garrett has been making people laugh for decades, but behind the comedy was a man who loved numbing more than anything. In this conversation Brad opens up about growing up with a mother addicted to sleeping pills and a bipolar father he adored, being bullied as a giant awkward kid, and turning to comedy just to survive. He was a high functioning alcoholic and daily weed smoker who could do a bottle of vodka and ask what's next. After wrapping the first season of Everybody Loves Raymond, he hit his bottom on a beach in Hawaii and decided he wanted to be alive and be a father more than he wanted to keep numbing. Brad shares how sobriety unlocked a creative fearlessness he never had while using, why surrender is not the same as giving up, and how his wife IsaBela was the first person who never held up a mirror but never judged him either. 28 years sober and happier than ever at 65, Brad reminds us that the window between wanting to quit and wanting to continue is painfully small, so if it opens, take it.If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on Instagram @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At 47, Alex lives in Athens, wakes up with energy, and doesn't hide bottles in her shopping anymore. That wasn't her life three years ago.Her dad died when she was seven. By fourteen, she'd found the first thing that made the pain go quiet. By sixteen, she was an international model flying first class, doing lines at the agency on Friday nights, losing years of a dream career to blackouts she can't remember.Then came motherhood, a property crash that wiped her out, and the slow respectable slide of wine mom culture. Two bottles a night. Different wine shops so no one noticed. A St Patrick's Day that ended on a kitchen floor at 10 a.m., shaking.This is Alex's story of what finally broke, what finally stuck, and why she calls this version of herself Alex Lee 2.0.Subscribe and share this with someone who needs it tonighthttps://www.instagram.com/alex.leigh2.0/If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dan was 27, 29 stone, and paralytic drunk at his dad's 50th when he hit the kitchen tiles the next morning. His lips went blue. He stopped breathing. His mum called an ambulance. Lying on the A&E stretcher, he made her a promise he'd heard people break a thousand times. He meant it.Dan has epilepsy. He'd been told at 18 not to drink on his medication. He'd been skipping doses for years so the tablets wouldn't kill his nights out. The seizures were getting worse, the hospital trips more frequent, and still the party Dan persona kept him chasing the next round of pints with the darts lads.In this conversation, Dan opens up about the Manchester United FA Cup final that ended on a hospital floor, the friends who ghosted him the minute he stopped drinking, dropping ten stone in eighteen months and realising he'd just traded one addiction for another, and the gambling addiction that quietly cost him fifty thousand pounds and nearly his relationship with his mum before she passed away last year.Nine years alcohol free. Two years gamble free. Now hosting his own podcast Be the Best Version of Yourself and campaigning with Gamban to change how the UK talks about gambling harm.Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/share/168UqswvBw/?mibextid=wwXIfr X - https://x.com/bethebestvy?s=21 TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@dan_batemannn?_t=ZN-8zTXi8d4NGA&_r=1If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Justin T-Bone is 10 years sober after 25 years of drinking that started the week he walked away from being a top-three sprinter in the country. In this recovery story, he walks through how he quit drinking — from running bars, nightclubs and award-winning restaurants as a functioning alcoholic, to four months alone in a rented garage getting sober.Justin opens up about Suffolk's 100m county record he's held since 1986, the daily scotch at 6am because his hands shook too badly to enter his PIN, the shoplifting moment that was his rock bottom, and the morning at the gym when he knew he would never drink again. Ten years on, four stone lighter, and still living one day at a time.If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Four children in every UK classroom are growing up in hygiene poverty. They share toothbrushes, wash their hair in soap, and skip PE because they have nothing to clean themselves with afterwards. Many of them carry that shame straight into addiction.This is a special bonus episode of One for the Road. Sober Dave sits down with Mike Kidney, CEO of the charity In Kind Direct, and Darren Langdon, managing director of Mirius Hygiene. Darren grew up in inner-city Coventry, watched his parents work multiple jobs, and later became a quietly heavy drinker before quitting alcohol. Mike runs the charity that gets essential products to over 7,000 frontline community groups across the UK.You'll hear about: how poverty and addiction feed off each other; the stigma both carry; how a working-class drinking culture passes down the generations; what hygiene poverty really looks like; and how anyone listening can help.If you have ever felt judged for either, this one's for you.If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nina was on holiday with her family when her ten year old son put his arm around his little sister and said, "Don't worry, she'll just order five more bottles of rose and then she'll say yes."That was the moment that broke.She grew up in Hong Kong, watched her mum drink herself into hospital at 14, and learned young how to mask things with booze. By her twenties she was drinking alone in her London flat, two bottles a night, buying from different tills at Sainsbury's so no one clocked it. Then came marriage, babies, a miscarriage she drank through, and lockdown. Then perimenopause, anxiety she called "the gauntlet," and waking up at 2 a.m. not knowing who she was.Eight months ago, she poured her last glass.This is Nina's story of mommy wine culture, the quiet shame of drinking behind closed doors, and the holiday moment that finally stuck.https://www.instagram.com/wonderfullysober/If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For years, Annie Knowles was sure her husband was the one with the drinking problem. He was in AA. She was just a normal wine mum, two-bottles-in-the-fridge kind of drinker. Three and a half years sober, she knows now that was never true.Annie is the only adopted child in a family of seven, a working NHS sonographer, and one half of a marriage where both people eventually got sober through completely different routes. Her husband through AA and the twelve steps. Her through Annie Grace, William Porter, This Naked Mind, and the sober online community.In this conversation she opens up about the abandonment wound underneath her drinking, gray area drinking that escalated through Covid lockdowns, the guilt of once telling her sober husband she wished he'd just drink again, their son's autism diagnosis, and the adoption trauma she only began to face once she stopped numbing it.She's now an NHS alcohol champion and runs a free blue light recovery group for emergency services staff. This is a recovery story about two different paths to sobriety, inner child healing, and why the real question isn't how much you drink, it's consequences and control.Subscribe and share it with someone who needs it tonight.Instagram: @af_rainbowriderEmail: [email protected] Balance - Life Coaching with Annie KnowlesIf you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When people quit drinking, they expect relief. Instead, many feel grief. That's what Dave sits down to explore with Julia Samuel MBE, psychotherapist of 30+ years and best-selling author of Grief Works.This conversation goes places most sobriety podcasts don't. Why unresolved grief fuels addiction. Why 70% of mental health struggles trace back to grief we've never let ourselves feel. Why Gabor Maté's question, "why the pain" not "why the addiction," matters so much. And why so many people get sober only to realise they're grieving the loss of alcohol itself, their oldest coping mechanism.Dave opens up about his mum dying in 2018, his 40 years of drinking, and the grief he had to sit with when he finally put the bottle down. Julia reframes addiction as a survival strategy, not a moral failing. She talks about living losses, complex grief, estrangement, and why it is never too late to grieve.If you're quitting drinking, grieving a parent, or navigating a living loss, this one's for you.  If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Niall Harbison nearly drank himself to death in Thailand at 41. Four days in ICU. A six-week bender of three bottles of wine, Valium, and whiskey, three times a day. He quit smoking, drinking, and pills in one go.He grew up in Belgium, an only child. His mum left when he was 13. He watched her get beaten by the man she left for, and he froze in the hallway. The drinking started at 14. The escape never really stopped.Now Niall is four years and four months sober. He feeds 1,200 stray dogs in Koh Samui every day. He runs a sanctuary and a hospital. His new book, Tina, is out next week.He says the dogs are part of why he's still here.This is a story about trauma, the pub culture that nearly killed him, and finding a reason to turn up.His second book, Tina: The Dog Who Changed the World, became an instant Sunday Times and New York Times Bestseller. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearehappydoggo/Niall's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/niall.harbison/Donate to Happy Doggo: https://www.happydoggo.com/donate If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate Annetts sounds like she's been drinking. She hasn't touched a drop in two years.At 22, she started slurring, falling, spilling drinks. GPs told her some people are just a bit wobbly. Seven years later she got a diagnosis: Friedreich's ataxia, a rare progressive condition. No cure. No mental health support. Just a letter and a goodbye.So she drank. A bottle of wine a night in bed in a Brighton shared house. Two if the day was "stressful." Buying from different shops so no one clocked it. Watching EastEnders, holding the glass like the women on telly did. Convincing herself she deserved it.Then lockdown. Then a best friend died. Then one pride weekend in 2023, hungover in a park watching Steps, something cracked open.This is Kate's story of being disbelieved, drinking through a diagnosis, the moderation trap, and the quiet epiphany that finally stuck.https://www.instagram.com/yourwobblyfriend/If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this weeks episode of One For The Road I am joined by Sarah Chamberlain who is the founder of UnashamED, an organisation dedicated to tackling shame across education, personal development, and sober living. A former teacher, coach, and consultant, Sarah brings deep expertise in psychology and education to her mission of creating spaces where people feel seen, supported, and unashamed. While UnashamED began by supporting young people and educators, Sarah’s work has expanded to focus strongly on the alcohol-free community. As someone who lives alcohol-free herself, she specialises in helping individuals explore and untangle the often-hidden shame connected to drinking culture, sobriety, and identity. Through coaching and training, she opens up vital conversations that empower people to thrive without alcohol.Sarah holds an MSc in Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology, with research centred on the lack of shame-awareness in education systems. Her work is rooted in the belief that shame resilience is a foundational skill—not just for students and teachers, but for anyone navigating life, especially those choosing to live alcohol-free. Based in the UK, Sarah champions compassionate, shame-free education and transformation in schools, workplaces, and everyday lives.https://www.instagram.com/unashamedcoach/If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dave is 18 months sober after nearly 40 years of social drinking, including a university run that hit 100 pints in a week. In this recovery story, the Showaddywaddy saxophonist walks through how he quit drinking — from his first pint with his dad at 15, to the solo holiday in Fuerteventura where he decided he didn't want to be that version of himself anymore.Dave opens up about the drinking culture he landed in at the Royal Northern College of Music, losing his middle brother and his dad in the same week in 2008, a serendipitous phone call from Dave Bartram asking him to join Showaddywaddy, losing his youngest brother in July 2020, and the six-month internal battle in sobriety where his own head kept asking "when are you going to start again?"He also talks about the loaded word "alcoholic," why moderation was never going to work for him, and how making it non-negotiable finally quietened the voice. Eighteen months alcohol free, three stone lighter, and still out on tour with the band.Follow Dave on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/davegrahamsax/Catch Dave on tour with Showaddywaddy www.showaddywaddy.net/gigsIf you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sophie Hutton-Mills was 20, on a train platform with her dad, when he had a heart attack and died in front of her. She couldn't say the sentence out loud for four years. So she did what she'd learned to do at home: she put it in a box, put a blanket of alcohol over the top, and got on with pretending.Twenty-something years later she was a mum of two small girls, hiding bottles of wine in the cupboard, lying to her husband, and drinking in the mornings the summer everything fell apart. She finally said out loud: I'm not in control any more.Then her sister died. A year later, almost to the day, her mum. Then her brother. Sophie stayed sober through every single one.You'll hear about: the moment she knew she had a problem; the mummy wine culture that made it all look normal; why moderation never worked; how the sober community pulled her through the worst losses of her life; the signs she still gets from the people she has lost.If you're a mum questioning your drinking, this one's for you.https://www.instagram.com/sober_soph_/If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Olivia Taylor is two years sober after a decade of alcohol addiction that started with morning drinking at 18 and ended with a litre of vodka a day, crack cocaine binges, and six months lying in the bed she's now recording this sobriety story from. In this recovery story, she walks through how she got sober, how many times rehab didn't work, and the phone call that finally did.Olivia's earliest memories are of paranoia and OCD so severe she paced her bedroom at six years old. Her first drink at 12 silenced all of it. By 18 she was drinking from 8am. By 19 she'd woken up in her boss's hotel room — a man 30 years older who would become her daughter's dad, isolate her from her family, and make her pregnant at 20 against her will. She left that coercive relationship, got free, and her drinking got worse, not better.In this conversation, Olivia opens up about being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder at 17 and having it used against her by every controlling man who followed, walking out of her first rehab at 23 and spending four nights on the street smoking crack with strangers, a partner who drove her off the road at 90mph trying to kill them both, writing suicide notes from this same bedroom, and the unknown phone call she felt compelled to answer that turned out to be her mum behind the scenes arranging a rehab bed that actually worked. Six months of intense therapy and dialectical behavioural therapy later, she came out a different person.Two years alcohol free, raising her daughter Leila in the same house she nearly died in, and now helping other women in recovery through @sobercoastalife on Instagram. Olivia is living proof that however many times you've tried to quit drinking and failed, the next attempt can be the one. Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sobercoasterlife Tiktok @sobercoasterlifeCo-host of @thesisterspat podcast alongside my sister, where we dive into the raw and unfiltered realities of addiction sharing both the addict’s and the family’s perspective with honesty, compassion, and a touch of humour. https://www.instagram.com/thesisterspatpodcast?igsh=cnoyNjhybmEzbHB4https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ak1FH2D72miiw7t8eRt8X?si=JcVt6C4WSrC5oK7N193p2gWebsite: https://www.sobercoasterlife.com/If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gary Mez was 14 the first time he drank a can of beer. By 19 he was drinking Foster's at half eight in the morning at university. By 33 he was alone in Granada, Spain, with a broken flip flop, no money on his phone, and not a single friend left who would return his call. That was the morning everything cracked open.Now eleven years sober, Gary tells Sober Dave the full story. The idyllic Cheshire upbringing. The prescription acne drug at 15 that changed him overnight. The 15 years of "no off switch." And the quiet decision he made on a Tuesday morning in Seville that he has never gone back on.You'll hear about: the connection between ADHD and addiction; why moderation is "dumping your toxic ex and sleeping with them at the weekend"; getting sober alone in a foreign country; finding an English-speaking AA meeting on the street parallel to his flat; what 11 years sober actually feels like.He is also the co-host of The Sober Stretch with his friend, Craig. https://www.instagram.com/sobernsound/ https://garys-newsletter-9e505a.beehiiv.com/subscribe https://open.spotify.com/show/42nfv5PNruzVeGdJU4DbLW?si=65aa303eb0fb4815 https://www.youtube.com/chanIf you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julie Ravitsky was 21, sitting cross-legged on her parents' dining room floor at 10am, drinking vodka and smoking cigarettes. Within hours she was in a psychiatric hospital being restrained and sedated. She would end up there twice before her 22nd birthday.The doctors called it drug-induced psychosis. Nobody asked what was actually happening in her life. Nobody asked about the London trading floor where she smoked at her desk, drank at her desk, and watched colleagues sneak off for cocaine. Nobody asked if she was okay.Decades later, Julie is a business psychologist with five years sober. The road there was long: ten years on antipsychotics, a marriage, two kids, and the kind of nightly wine habit that looked completely normal from the outside.You'll hear about: 90s trading floor drinking culture; what really sat underneath two psychiatric hospitalisations; grey area wine mom drinking; closing her business to change her environment and quit drinking; what 5 years sober actually feels like.If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A nurse found Oliver Mason in a hospital bed eating Gillette shaving foam. He'd read the label. He knew there was ethanol in it. The staff had taken his vodka away and his body was screaming for the drug.That was the bottom. Before that came the panic attack on the Jubilee Line, sweating vodka through his pores, ducking into a corner shop phone booth to neck a bottle of Glen's. Before that came the one Soho whiskey that ended a full year of sobriety and kicked off three months of drinking around the clock. Before that came a Saturday morning kids' TV career that suddenly went quiet, a friend lost to a drink-driving accident, and 15 years of telling himself he was fine because he only drank at weekends.Oliver is now ten years sober, married, working as an actor, running a podcast called School of Rockbottom, and helping others through the same rehab that saved him.You'll hear about: the four layers of denial; what really happens in the year before someone relapses; the difference between heavy drinking and alcoholism; what 10 years sober looks like; why connection beats willpower every time.Instagram - https://bit.ly/3IemHLY Facebook - http://bit.ly/3w8S1GxTikTok - https://bit.ly/3YGLsYmLinkedIn - http://bit.ly/3kp4ymCThreads - https://bit.ly/3svw7yLX - http://bit.ly/3GQYj2lFollow School of Rock Bottom -https://podfollow.com/schoolofrockbottomIf you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Sober Dave sits down with model, TV personality, and author Millie Macintosh to talk about her raw and honest journey from her first drink at 12 years old to getting alcohol free on August 25, 2022.Millie opens up about how bullying and unresolved trauma in her teens led to years of drinking to blackout, the shame spiral that came with it, and how her time on Made in Chelsea only made things worse. She talks about using alcohol and Xanax to cope with anxiety, the moment motherhood made her confront the real cost of her drinking, and the panic attack on holiday that finally made her say enough.But getting sober was only the beginning. Millie shares how she hit a wall months in, experienced burnout and health anxiety, and had to go back to therapy and medication before she was truly ready to do the deep work and face the trauma she had been running from since she was a teenager.She also talks about her book Bad Drunk, how writing it brought everything back to the surface, the medical insight from Dr. Ellie Cannon on what alcohol actually does to your brain and body, and why she now uses her platform to help other people feel less alone in their own drinking struggles.If you have ever felt trapped in that cycle of drinking, shame, anxiety, and trying to quit but not quite getting there, this one is for you.Bad Drunk by Millie Macintosh is available now:https://www.instagram.com/milliemackintosh/https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/millie-mackintosh/bad-drunk/9780349443812/Let's Connect on Instagram: @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alison Calder is three years sober after a 15 year back and forth trying to moderate drinking that no other career made harder — she was a trained sommelier who went on to run her own wine company. In this recovery story, she walks through how she finally quit drinking after years of stopping and starting, champagne at breakfast for work, and daily wine drinking at home with two young children upstairs.Alison's childhood was happy and nothing in it explained what happened when she picked up her first drink at 14. There was no off switch. By 24 she'd already been to an AA meeting and known something was wrong. By her late twenties she was working in a wine company where drinking through the day was the job — vineyard trips, breakfast champagne, tastings, events — and she was always the one who took it too far. She reached for help, she tried online groups with a fake Facebook profile so her clients wouldn't recognise her, she did dry months, she did everything except accept that moderation was never going to work for her.www.instagram.com/alisoncalderalcoholcoachwww.facebook.com/alisoncaldercoaching www.alisoncalder.comIf you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lee Anderson grew up inside pubs. His mum was a barmaid who ran her own pubs, and by the time he was eight or nine he was already pouring himself spirits from the cabinet the way he'd seen adults do it. By 14 he was drinking on the bus to steady his nerves. By his twenties he was the life and soul, and nobody ever questioned it.What nobody could see was everything underneath: the responsibility of being the oldest, the man of the house one minute and a child the next, the shame passed down from a teenage mum raising mixed-race kids alone in the seventies, and the thing Lee spent years terrified of naming — that he was gay. Alcohol was the uniform he put on before pushing open any pub door. It was, as he puts it, both a place to hide and a place to be seen.In this conversation, Lee opens up about coming out at 22 and flipping a coin on a toilet roll to decide whether to say the word, a toxic eight-year relationship where the drink and drugs ramped up, a breakdown and two attempts on his life, moving to France and drinking three litres of wine a night, and the Saturday morning he finally sat on a step and said enough.Four years sober, eight years clean, now a life coach and ambassador for the Lighthouse Construction Charity, standing in front of rooms of 500 builders talking about anxiety, addiction, and being gay. Lee's story is a reminder that the version of you underneath the drinking is still there — and it's worth meeting.If anything in this episode resonates, please reach out to Samaritans on 116 123 (UK and Ireland), or your local crisis line.https://www.instagram.com/leeandersoncoaching/https://www.leeandersoncoaching.com/https://open.spotify.com/show/13Hx2VN9L62ta3nMto5NmH?si=d809bf1d488f45f6&nd=1&dlsi=d2719481e12a4154If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Abigail Burrows had her first sip of champagne at nine years old, at a concert at the Dorchester. She topped up her own glass when the teacher's back was turned. She has never, in her own words, been a healthy drinker.By 19 she was drinking herself into psychosis at the Royal College of Music and dropped out. By her mid-twenties she'd hit a rock bottom serious enough to make her stop. She didn't drink for five and a half years. Then one glass of champagne to celebrate the milestone unleashed a decade of drinking that nearly cost her everything: her marriage, her career, her dad to alcoholism, and a job she'd dreamed of since childhood.Abby is now over a year sober, back in the West End pit at Les Mis, and credits her recovery to the charity Music Support.You'll hear about: the first drink at nine that lit her up; why moderation after years sober is a fantasy; what really happens when one glass of champagne breaks a five-year run; how the music industry hides addiction in plain sight; why getting back into Les Mis is the most beautiful chapter of her sober life.If you've ever told yourself "I can have just one," this one's for you. https://www.instagram.com/abbiefluteswww.abigailburrows.comMusic Support is a registered charity that helps anyone who works in the UK music industry experiencing substance use, addiction and/or mental health challenges. Find out more about their work at www.musicsupport.org. The charity is hosting “Understanding Addiction and Embracing Recovery: The Classical Edition,” a webinar in partnership with the Royal Society of Musicians on Blue Monday, 20th January, from 6pm – 730pm. It will feature Abbie and Music Support Trustee and cellist, Rachael Lander (a previous guest on my podcast). This special session that will also include a workshop on the neuroscience of addiction and pathways to recovery is suitable for anyone who works in the UK music industry (and their family and friends). Find out more and register to join at https://www.rsmgb.org/whats-on/understanding-addiction-embracing-recoveryIf you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beauty editor Donna Francis spent 30 years drinking white wine through her career, motherhood and perimenopause before quitting drinking last July. In this episode of One for the Road, she tells Sober Dave the story most mum-wine-culture women never say out loud.Donna grew up in an Islington family where pub culture was love, where pouring someone a drink was how you showed up. She married young, built an award-winning beauty editor career, raised her son, moved to Florida, and slowly noticed the white wine was no longer optional. There was the night she threw a tuna steak at her husband. The 40th birthday she ended throwing up in the lobby of Claridge's. The pool lilo she fell asleep on at a family pub party at 47.Donna talks perimenopause and alcohol, gray area drinking, hidden family trauma, and what quitting drinking actually feels like when wine has been your love language.Sober journey, beauty industry, mum wine culture, perimenopause sobriety.https://www.instagram.com/thebeautyed/?hl=enhttps://www.tiktok.com/@thebeautyed?lang=enhttps://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/smiling-gives-you-wrinkles/id1725957283If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christmas mornings used to start with a Bucks Fizz at 10am and a turkey carved with a few fingers missing from the bird. Not anymore. In this bonus Christmas special, Sober Dave is joined by William Porter, author of Alcohol Explained, for a proper survival guide to the festive season without booze.They cover how to handle Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, how to say no to a drink without over-explaining yourself, why family arguments go better when you're the sober one in the room, what to do if you're spending Christmas Day alone, how to fill the dead zone between Boxing Day and New Year, and how to actually make Dry January stick instead of imploding on February 1st. If you're sober curious, on day one, or just nervous about the holidays, this is the episode to keep on your phone.You can also look at Williams website here https://alcoholexplained.com/Thanks for all your support throughout the year, and I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.Dave If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will Gordon was a teacher. He had a wife, a family that loved him, a job he was good at when he showed up. He also drank a 750ml bottle of vodka most days, hid it from his wife in water bottles around the apartment, and parked on a side street in the mornings pretending to drive Uber so he could drink alone in his car.By 36 his skin was yellow, his stomach was full of seven litres of fluid, and a doctor sat his parents down and told them he had two weeks left. He needed an emergency liver transplant. The rule said he had to be six months sober. He wasn't even close.What followed was an 18-hour surgery, a colon that ruptured days later, half a year on a stoma bag, dialysis, and finally a kidney transplant too. Will is now sober, back in the classroom, and using whatever time he's been given to talk openly about how it happened.You'll hear about: drinking through a 125-day relapse window; what alcohol withdrawal in the morning really looks like; why willpower alone isn't enough; what life is like after a transplant; why a clear head matters more than a "fixed" body.If you're questioning your drinking, this one's for you.If you feel so inclined, please subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on Instagram for daily inspiration, insights, and a reminder that you're never alone in this fight.- YouTube: [The Willpower Podcast](https://www.youtube.com/@TheWillpowerPodcast)- Instagram: [@thewillpowerpodcast](https://www.instagram.com/thewillpowerpodcast/)Thank you @sobedave for letting me share my story. I am forever grateful.If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jo Preston Hart's dad was an alcoholic who died falling down the stairs drunk when she was 18. For years she told herself she was nothing like him. He drank every day, she thought. She only drank at weekends. Three months into sobriety, her mum sat her down and told her the truth: he didn't drink every day either. He was the life and soul of the party, just like her. He got violent, just like she sometimes did. That conversation broke something loose.Jo's drinking had started at 15 in a backstreet South East London pub, waking up in a police cell three weeks before her 16th birthday. Then raves, pills, cocaine to stay awake so she could drink longer, blackouts every weekend, bottles hidden in the boot of the car clanking for weeks, and a broken arm from a night she still can't fully remember.In this conversation, Jo opens up about growing up with a violent alcoholic father, her first sober Florence and the Machine concert, the Christmas she woke up with an egg on her head after head-butting a wall, hitting the f-it button a week before her one year sober anniversary, and the voice that told her don't tell the sober group — you want to drink.Nearly two years alcohol free and stronger for the relapse, not weaker. Jo's story is for anyone who has ever wondered whether one slip means it's all over. https://www.instagram.com/jo.prestonhart/If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She started drinking at 14 with peach schnapps and orange juice. At 51, her liver enzymes were 322. In between, Melissa McGovern was a Wisconsin theater kid turned New York actress turned mom of two, deep in mommy wine culture, grey area drinking her way through a pandemic and the death of her best friend T. Scott from alcohol-related liver failure.In this episode, Melissa tells Sober Dave the full story. The first drink. The "no off switch" she felt from day one. The four months sober she gave up the day COVID hit New York. The "just order a pizza button" she pressed for 15 months after losing her best friend. And the bloodwork that finally stopped her cold.What followed was an epic comeback. Now sober, 30 pounds down, and host of The Sober New Yorker podcast, Melissa shares what it took to actually break up with alcohol for good.https://www.instagram.com/thesobernewyorker/https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sober-new-yorker/id1751183180If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Todd Kinney is an attorney in Omaha, a husband, a dad of four. From the outside, his drinking was completely normal. The right job. The right house. Weekend drinking only. No mornings, no shakes, no real consequences anyone could point at.Inside it was a different story. He drank faster than everyone else. He had no off switch. He was hiding empty beer cans in different trash cans so his wife wouldn't see how many he'd had. He cycled through the same shame loop every Saturday morning, and he genuinely thought he was the only person on Earth feeling it.Then his 14-year-old son asked him a question at a baseball game that he couldn't shake for weeks. A few months later, his wife whispered something at a dinner table in Arizona that changed everything. Todd is now nearly five years sober.You'll hear about: why high-functioning drinking is its own kind of trap; the 450 attempts at moderation that never stuck; the question his son asked that wrecked him; what really sat underneath the shame; why none of the bad things he feared about sobriety actually happened.If you're a parent quietly questioning your drinking, this one's for you. My website:https://www.toddkinney.com/ The Book:https://www.amazon.com/s?k=i+didn%27t+believe+it+either+book&crid=2299C4Q69JNMC&sprefix=i+didn%27t+believe+%2Caps%2C156&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_17 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tkinney111/If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Phil Briggs was 54 years old, drinking three bottles of wine and two double gins a night, mostly alone, mostly in front of the television. He called it the party for one. His friends never saw the worst of it because by the time he got home from the pub he'd already mastered the art of looking normal in public. Then he'd open the second bottle. And the third.In the last week before he quit, he drank 200 units. On his last night he drank 51. By then his mum had died on a hospital bed in front of him, his marriage had ended, his work had dried up in the pandemic, and he could have wine delivered to his door in eight minutes.Phil is now six months sober. He talks to Dave with brutal honesty about how hard the first few months really were, the nights he sat on the sofa cuddling his dog and sobbing, and what finally turned it around.You'll hear about: how grief and lockdown collided into the heaviest drinking of his life; the moderation games that never worked; the wine delivery apps that finished him off; the sober community that pulled him through; what changes when you finally just stop.If you're sitting on the fence, this one's for you.Phil’s websites:www.camouflageconsultations.comwww.philbriggsmakeup.comIf you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Carrie Anne Stephens was 19 when her mum died of alcohol addiction. Her mum was just 47. The earliest memory Carrie Anne can recall from childhood is hiding under a coat, aged four, while chaos played out at home. Outwardly, the family was well-kept. The house was perfect. The kids were always turned out properly. Inside, it was something else.In this episode, Carrie Anne tells Sober Dave the full story. The forced loss her mum suffered at 19 that she never recovered from. The hypervigilance that became second nature. The bolshie teenager who moved in with friends to do her GCSEs. The hospital room where she had to sign a do-not-resuscitate at 19. The 28 years of caring for her dad. And the moment after he died when she finally asked, what about me?Now a NACOA volunteer, fitness coach, and mental health worker, Carrie Anne is opening a recovery hub and starting to live as herself for the first time.https://www.instagram.com/carrie_annstevens/https://www.instagram.com/mindbodybalanceacademy/https://mbbhub.co.ukIf you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anna Donahay spent 15 years in Soho ad agencies, falling in and out of bars from 6pm to 9pm every night, then stopping at Tesco's for a bottle of wine on the way home. She was the woman building campaigns that sold alcohol to women just like her.Then her youngest daughter looked across the kitchen during a family game and said, "Daddy, why is Mummy behaving so funny?"Coming up to four years sober, Anna now hosts The Big Drink Rethink and uses her insider perspective to call out exactly how the drinks industry hooks young mothers, teenagers, and exhausted professionals. She quit without AA, without rehab, through a slow-burn approach of blips, restarts, and tiny commitments to herself.You'll hear about: drinking on the manufacturing track at Rover in her early twenties; the maternity grief that pulled her back in; texting her husband to come home earlier so she could start the wine; and the philosophy that finally worked, making alcohol irrelevant.If you've ever wondered how a "good drinker" finally stops, this one's for you.You can listen to The Big Drink Rethink podcast on all podcast platforms – or through this link: The Big Drink RethinkAnd you can connect with Anna via:Website: thebeliefscoach.comInstagram: instagram.com/bigdrinkrethinkIf you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustleLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annadonaghey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate Bailey was sweating alcohol on a bus, too shaky to take the tube home. She'd just spent her sister-in-law's 40th dancing drunk in a garden until 3 a.m. By morning, she felt like a ghost. That was her last day one.Eight years later, Kate is one of the leading voices in British sobriety. Co-founder of Love Sober, podcaster, author, and coach for midlife women rebuilding their lives without alcohol. The road there ran through a childhood with an alcoholic father, a bleak attempt at AA at 28, a 13-month sober streak that ended with a bottle of fortified liqueur, and a promise she's kept ever since.You'll hear about: hiding behind the "good girl" mask; what happens when motherhood collides with wine culture; perimenopause and relapse; the inner child work that finally cracked her open; and the moment she said "I will never leave myself again."If you've ever wondered what eight years sober actually feels like, this one's for you.https://www.instagram.com/mskatebaily/Facbook: https://www.facebook.com/lovesober.cicIf you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At 15 years old, Simon Maguire lost his mom and alcohol became how he coped.What started as relief slowly turned into years of drinking, weight gain, and hiding how bad things had become.By 38, everything was catching up and something had to change.Story-Based Episode SummarySimon’s story begins with loss. After his mother passed away, alcohol quickly became more than something social. It became a way to numb emotions he did not know how to process.Through his teens and into adulthood, drinking became a constant. On the outside, life looked normal, but behind the scenes it was escalating. Alcohol, food, and later painkillers all became ways to cope. By his late 30s, he was drinking heavily, taking codeine, hiding it from those around him, and feeling the impact on his family, especially his kids.The turning point came from a moment he did not expect. A simple comment from someone at work forced him to face the truth. That led to a conversation with his wife that changed everything.What followed was not instant, but it was real. Step by step, he began to quit drinking, rebuild his habits, and take control of his life. From early mornings in a boxing gym to completing an Ironman, his journey shows what is possible in sobriety.This is a real story of alcohol addiction, recovery, and choosing to live alcohol free.Key Topics CoveredUsing alcohol to cope with grief and traumaHow alcohol addiction develops over timeThe connection between drinking, food, and emotional copingHiding alcohol use and recognizing the signsThe moment that leads to quitting drinkingEarly sobriety challenges and building new habitsFitness and transformation in recoveryLife after alcohol and building an alcohol free identityMore information and connect with Simon:www.simonmaguire.co.uk https://www.instagram.com/keynotemaguire/If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lauren White had her first drink at 11. By 18, she was modelling for Abercrombie at a size zero, drinking, using MDMA and cocaine, throwing up after every meal, and hiding all of it behind makeup, university, and a "perfect" Hertfordshire upbringing.She walked into Charter House rehab in a belly top, ego intact, certain she didn't really belong there.Four months later, she walked out a different person. She's now 11 and a half years sober, an addictions counsellor, NLP practitioner, and transformation mentor based in Bali, where she runs workshops and one-to-ones for people doing the same hard work she did.You'll hear about: growing up as the parent in her own family; the bulimia she hid for years because the shame felt worse than admitting to alcohol; the second rehab stay at 21 after work addiction nearly killed her; how AA, the 12 steps, and trauma work fit together for her; and why she now lives in flip-flops without a scrap of makeup.If you've ever wondered whether anyone really gets sober that young and stays that way, this one's for you.https://www.laurenwhitespeaker.com/If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Brooke Scheller spent years collecting nutrition degrees, a bachelor's, a master's, and a doctorate, while privately drinking herself into anxiety, depression, and the kind of double life only a high-functioning health expert can pull off. The wellness conferences ended in bars. The shame ran underneath everything.Then in June 2021, she stopped. She's now coming up on 1,000 days sober.Brooke is the author of How To Eat To Change How You Drink and the founder of Functional Sobriety, a nutrition and root-cause approach to supporting an alcohol-free life. She and Dave dig into the science most doctors never mention: how alcohol depletes B vitamins, magnesium, and zinc; why blood sugar crashes drive afternoon cravings; how alcohol wrecks the gut microbiome that produces your serotonin and dopamine; and why some drinkers literally can't moderate.You'll hear about: the protein and snack strategy that kills the 5pm urge; the supplements that support early sobriety; why sleep regulates within weeks; and the genetics question every drinker asks.If you want the science behind why your body feels the way it does, this one's for you. For further insights and guidance on your journey to wellness, connect with Dr. Brooke Scheller on Instagram (@drbrookescheller) or visit her websites at brookescheller.com and functionalsobriety.com.Website: www.functionalsobriety.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/drbrookescheller/?hl=enBook Website: www.functionalsobriety.com/bookAmazon: How to Eat to Change How You Drink – https://a.co/d/6hjCXTEIf you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Barbara had two to three bottles of wine most nights by the end. Not in pubs, not at parties — at home, on the sofa, and then on a dark walk around the corner to the shop in her coat and flip-flops to buy another bottle before it closed. She wouldn't remember doing it in the morning.She grew up in Cambridge in a Jamaican family of five sisters, had her daughter at 17, and barely drank through her 20s while raving instead. Alcohol came for her properly in her 30s — dinners, wine, the ladette era, Sex and the City parties every Wednesday night. Then lockdown arrived, and a weekend habit quietly became an every night one.In this conversation, Barbara opens up about the 14 year old who drank paralytic and had to be picked up by her dad, waking up to find she'd driven home and didn't remember, the Sunday her husband started hiding bottles from her, and what it actually felt like to stand at the bar at four months alcohol free and have friends say, you're still exactly the same.Three years sober, newly qualified as a sobriety coach, and about to launch a community for women of colour in recovery. Barbara is one of the warmest voices in the UK sober spacIG @sober_in_colour She is soon to be launching a Facebook group exclusive to women of colour www.facebook.com/groups/soberincolourViva Coaching with Barbara, where she is helping people who have already made the decision to quit alcohol or are thinking about it https://vivacoaching.co.uk/bookings/https://www.instagram.com/sober_in_colour/ If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-serviceshttps://nacoa.org.uk/Show producer- Daniella Attanasio-MartinezInstagram - @TheDaniellaMartinezhttps://www.instagram.com/thedaniellamartinez/www.instagram.com/grownuphustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.