After Hours with Jimmy Thistle

Episode 74 | April (Sally Sober) — From Whistler Snowboarder to 42 Days in Hospital: The Full StoryApril grew up in London, Ontario — good grades, scholarship to university, full of creative ambition. She was the weird middle kid who painted her nails black and hung out with the art kids, and found her first real confidence at 19 when she discovered alcohol above the campus pub. What followed was a decade that looked brilliant from the outside: five years in Whistler snowboarding six days a week, a ska band in Vancouver, a career in travel sales, nightclub promoting. Work hard, play hard — always in balance, always functioning. Then COVID happened.Locked down with a partner who also drank heavily, no job, liquor stores open from 7am, the balance tipped. By the time things opened up and the relationship ended, April was drinking alone to fall asleep and waking up at 2am to do it again. Loneliness was the trigger — it always has been. When a family member flew out and saw what her life had actually become, that was the moment things had to change.What followed was a two-year cycle of getting sober, hitting a milestone, telling herself she’d been sober long enough to have just one — and relapsing. Four times. Each time the withdrawal was harder because she knew what was coming. Then this February: almost five months sober, Valentine’s Day, her friend cancelled at the last minute, a bottle of wine at home, a long weekend, the old crowd, and eventually — through a chain of events she can’t fully discuss for legal reasons — 42 days in hospital with emergency surgery. She lost her job. She couldn’t eat or drink anything for two weeks. A nurse left a bottle of water on the counter and she lay there staring at it, lips cracked, not allowed to touch it.Now two months back and 111 days sober, April — who started her account as Sally Sober before going by her real name — talks about finally knowing who she is without a drink, the opposite of addiction being connection, and why this time genuinely feels different.You can find April on Instagram at:https://www.instagram.com/sobergalproblems?igsh=MTY1OHRtaW04ZmR3MA==My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 73 | Ross May — Jersey, Ketamine & Running Ultras: How £100K, a Van Crash & 18 Hours in a Cell Finally Broke ThroughRoss May grew up on Jersey — nine miles by five — in a house where his dad drank heavily from Friday to Sunday and family life happened around arguing and alcohol. There was no one kicking a ball about with him, no male figure showing up for things. So Ross found his people outside, got easily led, got into trouble at school, and by 13 was paralytic at a New Year’s Eve party wondering why people kept telling him the next day about a version of himself he didn’t recognise. That version, he’d eventually realise, was his dad.Through his twenties he worked as a maintenance carpenter, drank every weekend to blackout, and smoked weed daily. Then after COVID he inherited £100,000. Within 16 months it was gone — all of it snorted or drunk, surrounded by people who appeared when the money did and vanished when it didn’t. He had over 30 Monday no-shows at work in a single year. Ketamine became his midweek go-to. He crashed a van while on it with friends in the back, tried to do a runner, got caught, and spent 18 hours crying in a cell. The fine cleared his bank account. He was close to prison.What pulled him back was running. He went from never running in his life to a sub-four-hour marathon in four months — then an ultra of 100K in Austria. Each time he cleaned up something would bring him back: a funeral wake, a friend saying you’ve done so well, the cogs of the old life turning again. Three pints at a pub and he felt nothing but shame. He left with his mum.Now approaching a year sober on Jersey, training for ultras, in a relationship with a woman who used to take drugs just to try and fit in around him, Ross talks about what sobriety actually is: not becoming a better person, but stripping back to your raw, honest self with nowhere left to hide. His word for life now: magical.Ross is on Instagram at:https://www.instagram.com/rosspowell__?igsh=MWliZHk0aDd5M2N4Mw==The Daily Stoic - Ryan Holidayhttps://amzn.eu/d/0bxvfz8kCan't Hurt Me - David Gogginshttps://amzn.eu/d/0gFQoXB7TOMU - The Open Mic Unfiltered Podcasthttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tomu-the-open-mic-unfiltered/id1822149303My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 72 | Jessica White — Sexier Sober: The San Diego Coach Who Quit Without Trying & Never Looked BackIn this bright, sharp and genuinely thought-provoking episode, Jimmy sits down with Jessica White — sober coach, host of the Sexier Sober podcast, and professional organiser based in Carlsbad, California — whose story of growing up in a high-functioning drinking household, nine years of blackout drinking, and a moment of quiet moral clarity that ended it all without drama or rehab is one of the most distinctive the podcast has featured.Jess grew up in San Diego in a well-meaning, loving family where both parents had substance issues — managed, high-functioning, never chaotic — but emotionally distant. She absorbed drinking as the normal currency of connection: football parties, family gatherings, the way adults loosened up and let go. A sensitive, neurodivergent kid who felt something was always slightly wrong with her, she couldn’t wait to find what would finally make her feel okay. At 14, she found it — blacked out the first time, threw up, and couldn’t wait for the next one.For nine years, Jess drank hard and largely had fun — social, energetic, the life of every party. She chose UC San Diego deliberately, a school full of serious students, because some part of her knew she needed that counterweight. She graduated with good grades. But outside the library, Thursday through Sunday, she was blacking out consistently, waking up with no memory of whole nights, doing things she’d never do sober, saying things she’d never say, sleeping with people she’d never have chosen — and rationalising every single time that next time she’d moderate.The moment that broke it wasn’t dramatic. It was a Tuesday night, Taco Tuesday, with a younger colleague who looked up to her as a role model. Jess had two or three drinks, remembered nothing, lost her phone, was driven home drunk by the person who called her a mentor. The shame wasn’t about the hangover. It was about the profound split between who she was performing herself to be and who she was actually showing up as. Out of alignment. Out of integrity. Done.That was July 8th 2020 — two weeks before Jimmy’s own sober date. She never craved it again.What makes Jess’s story distinctive is the path she took before that date. Three years of internal work — meditation, journaling, visualisation, studying how she worked. Six months of treatment at Rogers Behavioral Health for depression and anxiety — not for alcohol. A growing circle of people who were living differently and reflecting back to her what was possible. By the time she put down the drink, the work was already done. The alcohol just stopped fitting the life she was building.Now nearly five years sober, Jess runs Sexier Sober — one-to-one coaching, a podcast, and a community membership — built around the radical idea that sobriety isn’t the goal. The goal is becoming so clear on who you are and who you want to be that alcohol simply stops making sense. Effortless sobriety, she calls it. Not easy. Just inevitable.You can find Jess on Instagram at:https://www.instagram.com/jessmariewhite?igsh=MTdhMnJpeTE2cWdmbA==And her Linktree:https://linktr.ee/jessSupport the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 71 - SimonIn this episode, Jimmy sits down with Simon, a 36-year-old Glaswegian stonemason and business owner who grew up in the drinking culture of the West of Scotland. Simon shares his honest journey from teenage blackouts and festival benders, to using alcohol as a stress coping mechanism when launching his own business — and how his wife Katie’s gentle nudge finally pushed him toward lasting sobriety. Now 10 months in and doing the inner work through therapy, Simon’s story is a powerful reminder that sobriety isn’t about white-knuckling it — it’s about understanding yourself.Simon is a stonemason living in Glasgow.For most of his adult life, he found himself drifting into moments where he’d imagine a sober life. He always wanted to get there, but never quite knew how. How would he fit in? How would he function without a drink?In 2020, he started his own business. That became the final straw that broke the camel’s back. His drinking had been creeping up for years, and things were starting to unravel. Work, relationships, life, all of it felt heavier.In July 2023, at the end of a music festival, he told his wife he’d had enough.Since then, he’s had periods of sobriety, some longer than others. But now, 8 months in, something feels different. Alongside therapy and a deeper understanding of himself, this time feels real.You can find Simon on Instrgram at:https://www.instagram.com/simon.is.sober?igsh=MThzNml6NjJ3N3Judw==Simon’s Just Giving Page:https://www.justgiving.com/page/katie-simon-arran?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=WA&fbclid=PAVERFWARixVhleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAaceN9IlkXqO6zmeAbDJlraesiRvBGZeXdBDA45sp5-SC65n0lD-tw2x2aHh3Q_aem_zA-QpmtZqZzd2eVvYm5G8AAndrew Huberman - Podcast Episodehttps://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/huberman-lab/id1545953110?i=1000744781362Support the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 70 - Abi KingIn this powerful episode of After Hours Guys, Jimmy sits down with Abi King, a sober coach and host of the Sober Connection Podcast, now based in New Zealand. Abi opens up about her journey from teenage binge drinking in 1990s England to four years of hard-won sobriety — and everything in between.Abi is originally from the UK, but now lives in New Zealand. Mum to 3 teenage girls, she spent most of their childhood buying into the 'mummy wine' culture, rushing bedtime so she could get to the couch and her bottle of wine (or 2). After one of her daughters told her they didn't like the sound of her voice when she was drinking, Abi decided to quit, thinking it would be easy. It took 4 years of constant stop-starting but she got there in the end. Now over 4 years sober, she's finally become the mum she always knew she should be. She now educates people on alcohol-related issues through her 1:1 coaching and her own podcast, The Sober Connection. You can find Abi on instagram:https://www.instagram.com/levelup.withabi?igsh=MTdmbTBlN3k0NzM1bA==30 Days to Freedom by Abi Kinghttps://subscribepage.io/30-days-to-freedom-resetThe Sober Connection Podcasthttps://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sober-connection/id1809595582Mrs D is Going Without - Lotta Dannhttps://a.co/d/04SPXfBIBoing Point https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11127680/?ref_=ext_shr_lnkThe Virtueshttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt7186126/?ref_=ext_shr_lnkSupport the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 69 - Emma NewmanIn this deeply honest episode, Jimmy sits down with Emma Newman, a 10-year sobriety veteran who got sober in 2015 — before sober coaching existed, before quit-lit flooded the shelves, before Instagram accounts made recovery feel possible. Emma’s story is one of the most relatable on the podcast precisely because there was no dramatic rock bottom. No intervention. No ultimatum. Just a quiet, growing certainty that alcohol wasn’t serving her anymore.Emma quit drinking over ten years ago, long before sobriety became a trend or a wellness choice. Back then, choosing not to drink often raised eyebrows, and the only visible routes were AA or rehab. Emma chose neither, instead carving out her own path—without quit lit, podcasts, or a sober community to lean on.By day, she’s a mum to two teenagers (and two cats) and works for a disability charity. In her spare time, she’s become a passionate advocate for alcohol-free drinks, supporting the category from its earliest days. Today, Emma is a regular judge of alcohol-free categories and writes about non-alcoholic drinks, bringing both lived experience and a sharp critical palate to a category that’s come a long way since she started.You can find Emma on instagram at:https://www.instagram.com/emma_sobersonic?igsh=MXVhY2JraXdodWhzbw==And Emma’s linktree at:https://linktr.ee/emma_sobersonicLove Sober Podcasthttps://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/love-sober-podcast/id1379018341The Outrun - Amy Liptrothttps://amzn.eu/d/06LpGWumWild - Cheryl Strayedhttps://amzn.eu/d/00v410CZDry - Augusten Burroughshttps://amzn.eu/d/0iEP1EZsWintering - Katherine Mayhttps://amzn.eu/d/0fOgxG4LSupport the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 68 - Adam BurgIn this compelling episode, Jimmy sits down with Adam Berg, a government affairs lobbyist and mayoral appointee from Denver, Colorado, whose polished professional exterior hid nearly a decade of secret, escalating alcohol abuse. Adam’s story is a masterclass in high-functioning denial — working with US senators, building a career in law and policy, all while hiding bottles in his car, refilling them so nobody would notice, and drinking every single night.Adam Burg lives in Denver, Colorado, with his wife and their dog, Ruby. His sobriety date (May 20, 2022) marks a turning point that came after more than a decade spent cycling through alcoholism, stuck in the all-too-familiar limbo between wanting change and not knowing how to reach it. Eventually, something shifted. Adam made the decision to confront his illness head-on. He asked for help, committed to recovery, and began the hard, daily work of rebuilding his life with honesty and intention. Today, that same journey has become a source of purpose. What once held him back now fuels his ability to connect with and support others facing similar struggles. His story is one of resilience, accountability, and the belief that change is possible for anyone, one day at a time.You can find Adam on Instagram at:https://www.instagram.com/sober__traveler?igsh=MW41bjFvczd2cnBlaA==Unexpected joy of being sober - Catherine Greyhttps://amzn.eu/d/03SBYaMGRecovery Elevator - Podcasthttps://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/recovery-elevator/id971959728Support the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 67 - Laura McKowenIn this landmark episode, Jimmy sits down with Laura McKowen — bestselling author of We Are the Luckiest and Push Off From Here, co-founder of one of sobriety’s earliest podcasts, and one of the most important voices in the modern recovery movement. With nearly 11 years of sobriety, Laura’s story is equal parts raw, literary, and profoundly hopeful.Laura is the author of the bestselling memoir We Are The Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life and Push Off From Here: Nine Essential Truths to Get You Through Life (and Everything Else).Her work explores the intersection of addiction, recovery, emotional sobriety, and the complexities of relationships. She has written for The New York Times and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Atlantic, The TODAY Show, and more.In 2020, she founded The Luckiest Club, a global sobriety support community, and she writes Love Story, a popular Substack newsletter about sobriety, relationships, and writing. She is currently working on her third book.Laura lives with her daughter on the North Shore of Boston.You can find Laura on Instagram at:https://www.instagram.com/laura_mckowen?igsh=MjBnbDE5eHExbjY2And all Laura’s other links on Linktree:https://linktr.ee/laura_mckowenWe Are The Luckiest - Laura McKowenhttps://amzn.eu/d/0gKzYmnJPush off From Here - Laura McKowenhttps://amzn.eu/d/0hZASeMqJohn O’Donohue - The Inner Landscape of Beautyhttps://amzn.eu/d/0dQokDBMSentimental Valuehttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt27714581/?ref_=ext_shr_lnkDrinking: A Love Story - Caroline Knapphttps://amzn.eu/d/0dQokDBMSupport the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 66 | Nikki Pears — 5 Years Sober, One Drink, and Back to Square One: Why Putting Down the Bottle Is Just the BeginningIn this raw and deeply honest episode, Jimmy sits down with Nikki Pears — South African-born sober coach, nervous system specialist, and founder of Mommy Is Sober — whose journey through addiction, relapse, rehab, and ultimately real recovery is one of the most layered and instructive stories the podcast has ever featured.Nikki grew up in Johannesburg feeling lost, socially anxious, and like everyone else had been given a manual for life that she never received. Her first drink at 17 — sneaked in the bushes outside an Italian club — felt like the solution she’d been searching for. The anxiety melted away. She became the life of the party. She finally felt like she belonged. That feeling became the compass she chased for the next two decades.Through veterinary nursing school in South Africa, where she became the first woman accepted into the Vets’ drinking club and students hooked each other up to saline drips to cure hangovers before morning lectures, to falling in love in Mozambique and building a successful scuba diving centre on the beach — Nikki’s life looked extraordinary from the outside. Beautiful home. Thriving business. A loving husband who knew when to stop. Three kids. And inside, a hole in her soul that no amount of alcohol, success, or sunshine could fill.The drinking got worse. The rules — only wine, only after six, only on Fridays — never lasted. She missed her flight to rehab three times because she needed one last party first. She eventually checked herself in for what she thought would be four weeks. She stayed for six. And it worked — for two years. Then she stopped going to meetings, decided she’d cracked it, and white-knuckled the next three years in a state of furious, emotionally volatile, exhausting dry sobriety — still carrying every unprocessed feeling, just without the numbing agent. After five years, she picked up a drink. Within weeks it was worse than before rehab.What finally worked — and what makes Nikki’s story genuinely different — was going inward. Nervous system regulation. Learning that she’d spent her entire life in fight-or-flight mode, suppressing every emotion since childhood, and that sobriety without inner healing is just white-knuckling in slow motion. Now four years into what she calls her real recovery, Nikki coaches women online through @mommyissober, helping them regulate their nervous systems so alcohol loses its grip — not through willpower, but through genuine inner peace.You can find Nikki on instagram at:https://www.instagram.com/mommyissober?igsh=MWh1Zno3ZXUyc2hlOA==And Nikkis website is here:https://mommyissober.live/The Surrender Experiment - Michael A. Singerhttps://amzn.eu/d/0fBHg276Support the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 65 | Ashley Howard — The Secret Drinker Nobody Suspected: A Straight A Student, a Fitness Coach & 3 Years SoberIn this compelling episode, Jimmy sits down with Ashley Howard — certified recovery coach, life coach, and health and fitness entrepreneur from South Carolina — whose story of secret, private drinking behind the perfect public image is one of the most quietly relatable the podcast has ever featured.Ashley grew up in Pennsylvania as the daughter of a hard-working single mum who was rarely home. A straight A student, a sports star, always ticking the boxes — and from age 14, secretly drinking at parties on weekends, then going home and sliding back into her model student life as if nothing had happened. Nobody suspected a thing. That pattern — performing perfectly in public while crossing lines in private — would define the next two decades.By 19 she was arrested for underage possession of alcohol. By 21 she had a DUI. Both were brushed under the carpet. She got the job anyway, met her husband on a work trip, built a thriving fitness coaching business, had two children — and quietly, steadily, shifted from social weekend binge drinking to something far more private and deliberate. Her happiest time of day became when her whole family was asleep and she could finally drink the way she actually wanted to drink. Two, three, four drinks every night, alone on the couch, protecting the image of the health and fitness coach who had it all together.Then in one year, Ashley lost her brother to drug complications and her father to lung cancer from 40 years of smoking. Two deaths from preventable causes. And still she didn’t connect it to her own relationship with alcohol, because she told herself: I don’t do drugs. I don’t smoke. It took nine more years.The turning point came on a trip to Scotland for a wedding — watching a friend who’d always been a big drinker thriving without alcohol and still being the life of the party. The voice in her head got loud. She came home, got through Christmas with family, and on January 8th 2023, sat down on the couch, turned to her husband, and said the words she’d been terrified to say out loud: I want to be done with alcohol forever. I’d like your help. They cleared the house that night.She used the 75 Hard fitness challenge as her public cover story while she quietly did the inner work. Six weeks later she posted her story on Instagram. Then a few reels went viral — five million views — and her inbox was flooded with people saying this is my story too. She got certified as a recovery coach, built a free online community, and now helps women who look exactly like she did: healthy, driven, successful on the outside — and secretly dependent on alcohol to get through the night.You can find Ashley on Instagram at:https://amzn.eu/d/074zO5jEAnd her website at:https://www.ashleyhowardcoaching.comSober Motivation with Brad McLeodhttps://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/sober-motivation-sharing-sobriety-stories/id1650658049Annie Grace - This Naked Mindhttps://amzn.eu/d/0bmEeE4OAnnie Grace - The Alcohol Experimenthttps://amzn.eu/d/0hKgNiI1Laura McKowen - Push Off Support the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 64 | Dawn — Soberfish: The Pioneer Who Changed What Sobriety Looked Like OnlineIn this warm and wide-ranging episode, Jimmy sits down with Dawn, the woman behind Soberfish — one of the earliest and most influential sobriety communities on the internet. Now approaching a decade sober and working remotely from a beach in Thailand, Dawn’s story is a masterclass in what happens when you finally put down the bottle and let your real life begin.Dawn grew up in North London before her family relocated to Poole, Dorset when she was 16 — uprooting her from everything she knew at exactly the wrong age. That need to fit in, to be accepted, to belong, became the engine that drove her drinking from her teens through her 20s and 30s. She was always the one who got the sickest, always the last one standing, always the one with no off switch — drinking a bottle of wine a night from her early 20s, celebrating weight loss with a Chinese takeaway and more wine, and letting generous friends with deeper pockets fund nights that went far longer than they should have.What made Dawn’s story different from many was the absence of the traditional rock bottom. She never got married, never had kids — and while her friends naturally slowed down when life took over, Dawn had nothing to pull her back. She drank through her 30s feeling like a failure for not meeting someone, not realising that the drinking itself was why people kept drifting away. By her early 40s she was overweight, a heavy smoker, and exhausted.Then in summer 2016 a before-and-after photo of people who’d quit drinking appeared in her Facebook feed. She hadn’t searched for it. She just saw it, looked in the mirror, and decided to give herself a year off — mainly to lose weight and quit smoking, fully intending to drink again. She got ill in November, accidentally got a head start on sobriety, and by six months in, knew she was never going back.With almost no sober content online at the time — just a handful of Facebook groups and Becks Blue — Dawn started sharing her story publicly to lighten the load of her “boring” new life. What she got back changed everything: thousands of messages from people saying I’m just like you — people who didn’t identify as alcoholics, who’d never googled sobriety, but who saw themselves completely in her words. Gray area drinking before anyone called it that.Now nearly 10 years sober, six stone lighter, non-smoking, running a membership community and coaching practice, and living her dream of working from the sunshine, Dawn is living proof that sobriety isn’t the grey, boring compromise society told us it was. It’s everything else.Catch Dawn on Instagram at:https://www.instagram.com/soberfishie?igsh=ZjVwbjJqaDJmczR3or on Facebook at:https://www.facebook.com/share/18vvijBris/?mibextid=wwXIfrDawn's Linktree:https://linktr.ee/Soberfish?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAdGRleAQqhjhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAadjo2U7bFrRAONzzbycrGG000G7TntaAHX6KJAa7Y141EdsrbGnDAFn3jmhLw_aem_NIEBd5DpI53j1Sa6L4HNPQAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://amzn.eu/d/01rqPozmGlorious Rock Bottom - Bryony Support the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 63 | Mikey Banks — From Cocaine Debt, Violence & Planning His Own Death to 4 Years Clean⚠️ Content warning: This episode contains discussion of addiction, violence, debt and suicide.In this searingly honest and deeply moving episode, Jimmy sits down with Mikey Banks — Aberdeen joiner turned recovery advocate and founder of the Better Together Ball — whose story goes further into the darkness than almost any guest the podcast has featured.Mikey grew up on a council estate in Aberdeen, loved and cared for by his parents, causing mischief, playing out late, and finding alcohol at 12 or 13 — not because he loved it at first, but because he needed to belong. By the time he started his joinery apprenticeship at 16 he was drinking with men twice his age. Then cocaine arrived, and everything changed. Unlike alcohol, the first line of coke told him: this is it.Through his early 20s, Mikey held it together. Working, paying bills, holidays, cars — the facade of a functioning life. But the cocaine use grew, the money ran out, and his bright idea to start dealing to fund his habit quickly spiralled into thousands of pounds of debt to dangerous people. By 26 the wheels had come off completely. He was using several grams a day, stealing from everyone he loved including his father’s treasured £9,000 watch which he sold for £400, manipulating his parents, lying to his wife, and driving to his dealer’s house before work each morning just to be able to function.The violence came next. Drug dealers gave him a choice: take a beating or watch them do his house. He took the beating. Four men stamped on his head, kicked out five of his teeth, spat on him and laughed. His first thought when it was over? I need to get drugs. He walked to a shop, cleaned his face, and went to score.By March 2022, aged 32, Mikey had had enough. He wrote individual letters to his wife, his children, and his parents, left them neatly on the bedside table, left his phone behind, and walked out with a pocket full of drugs and a pocket full of drink — heading for a bridge over the River Don. Nineteen hours later, five minutes from the bridge, police found him. A female officer put her arms around him and said thank God we found you. It was the first act of pure kindness he’d felt in years. That moment cracked something open.Recovery wasn’t linear. Relapses at 11 days, then 54 days. But on 15 June 2022, he used for the last time. Nearly four years later, Mikey is clean, sober, rebuilding his marriage, present for his three children — and carrying the ashes of his best friend Blaine, who died by suicide 54 days into his own recovery, around his neck as a daily reminder of why he does what he does.Now building the I Am Movement and organising the Better Together Ball charity event for suicide prevention, Mikey is one of the most powerful voices in the recovery community — not because he has a certificate, but because he’s lived every word of it.Find Mikey on Instagram at:https://www.instagram.com/mikeybanksrr?igsh=cjdqbGVwcTY1YW0xMikey’s I AM movement:https://ko-fi.com/s/08ce0f2ede?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAVERFWAQfukxleHRuA2Support the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 62 | Rachel Sereni — From Watching Her Mum Die of an Overdose at 16 to Co-Hosting a Recovery Podcast: The Ratchet Rachel StoryIn this raw, emotional and ultimately triumphant episode, Jimmy sits down with Rachel Sereni — co-host of the Rock Bottom with Ryan podcast — whose story of generational addiction, childhood trauma, and hard-won sobriety is one of the most layered the show has ever featured.Rachel grew up in South Florida watching her mother — addicted to opioids and benzos — nod out on the sofa with lit cigarettes in her hand. As a five-year-old, Rachel was taking her baby sister’s dirty nappies off because nobody else was. Walking across roads alone to get cookies from the clubhouse because she was hungry. Her father eventually fought for custody — no small feat for a man in Florida in the mid-90s — and won. But Rachel’s mother kept coming back into her life, erratic and unreliable, until the day before her death when she offered Rachel a handful of coloured pills from her pocket at a shopping mall. Rachel was 16. The next day was the last time she saw her mum alive. That night, she got the call to go to the hospital. The nurses hadn’t cleaned her up. Rachel collapsed.Grief, abandonment and the search for belonging set Rachel on a path of drinking, benzos and ecstasy through her late teens, surrounded by people far older than her who should have known better. By 19 she was stealing and watering down her dad’s alcohol. By 21 — legally able to drink for the first time — she’d just given birth to her son Gabriel. He went to the NICU for ten days. Her first thought? We’ve got a free babysitter. Let’s go play beer pong.What followed was years of blackout drinking, getting barred from bars, fighting strangers and — as her alter ego Ratchet Rachel — becoming physically abusive to her partner Carlos. A DUI ended that relationship. A new one with John, who moved in fast and tried to keep up, slowly watching Rachel deteriorate: 221 pounds, sleeping all day, no job, their home a mess. On their seven-year anniversary she promised him a nice dinner and drank herself unconscious instead.His ultimatum came the next morning. Ten days later, Rachel drove to a parking lot with a bottle of Pinot Grigio, two shots of banana liqueur, and a tube of toothpaste as her alibi. She got halfway through the bottle, threw it across a field, collapsed on the tarmac screaming, and that was it. Her surrender moment. She went home, got on the scales (221 lbs), started a new job, and got sober — all on the same day.Now approaching two years sober, Rachel has lost 80 pounds, is present in her son’s life, co-hosts one of recovery’s fastest-growing podcasts, and is getting married on her exact two-year sobriety anniversary. On her future mother-in-law’s deathbed, she made a promise to stay sober. She’s keeping it.Catch Rachel on Instagram at:https://www.instagram.com/realtalkwithrachieRock Bottom with Ryan Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/rock-bottom-with-ryan/id1827151504Mel Robbins - Let Themhttps://amzn.eu/d/0d5hYimkDr. Anna Lembke - Dopamine Nationhttps://amzn.eu/d/09Td17HH Support the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 61 | Natalie — From Brooklyn Moonshine & Croatian Moonshine to Cocaine, Custody Battles & 3 Years Sober: A Story of SynchronicityIn this extraordinary episode, Jimmy sits down with Natalie — a first-generation Croatian American from Brooklyn, New York, whose recovery story is unlike any other on the podcast. It spans moonshine at age seven, a supernatural premonition that saved her life at ten, ecstasy, cocaine, a toxic divorce, a restraining order served on her last day of rehab, and a grandmother who died at 5:55pm on 11/11 — and whose passing became Natalie’s rebirth.Growing up in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, alcohol was never a problem in Natalie’s family — it was a ritual. Every September her Croatian family would make wine and Rakija, a 150-proof moonshine so powerful you’d feel it in your chest from a single piece of fruit soaked in it. Her first sip of Hennessy and Coke came at age seven from a great-uncle who loved her. She climbed a ladder to the roof singing. She was hooked on the feeling long before she knew what that meant.At ten, a force she still can’t explain physically held her down in the back seat of her brother’s car — preventing her from climbing to the front passenger seat moments before another vehicle’s grill came crashing through exactly that spot. Her brother pulled glass from his hands, crying. “How did you know?” She didn’t. She just knew.Diagnosed with depression, anxiety and rage at 12, Natalie witnessed a murder on her corner at nine, grew up without a woman figure to guide her, and found alcohol, ecstasy, pills, quaaludes, acid, ketamine and eventually cocaine in quick succession through her teens and twenties. She crashed her car outside a police precinct in Coney Island at 20, stone drunk, and charmed her way out of an arrest. She was always the ringleader. Always the one who didn’t know when to stop.A nine-year relationship and brief marriage brought a period of relative calm — until it fell apart. Then a second marriage, two daughters, a COVID baby born mid-pandemic and sent home from a C-section in 24 hours, postpartum depression, and a marriage imploding around her. Natalie found herself waiting every night for her children to fall asleep so she could drink herself into a stupor, cut lines of cocaine, and clean the house alone in the dark. She was self-harming. She was having heart palpitations. The alcohol stopped working. No matter how much she drank she couldn’t feel anything — so she’d add more cocaine, and feel her heart racing towards a heart attack instead.Then her grandmother — who had helped raise her — died on All Saints’ Day at exactly 5:55pm. 11/11. The angel number for divine guidance. 5:55 — the number for change. Natalie didn’t grieve. She collapsed. And then she surrendered.She checked into rehab on November 28th 2022, excelled — they called her Little Miss Sunshine, she organised karaoke every day — and on her final day before discharge, was handed a restraining order from her ex-husband. She went to jail in February for sending a text. She lost her job of 11 years. Her ex lived in her father’s house for 17 months while she fought for custody from her childhood bedroom in Brooklyn.And through all of it — shSupport the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 60 | Ash Shepherd — 5 Months Sober, a River at 3am & Why the Mummy Wine Culture Needs to StopIn this warm, honest and deeply relatable episode, Jimmy sits down with Ash Shepherd — 34-year-old project manager, young mum and founder of the Booze Free Sparkle Instagram — whose story of grey area drinking, a 10-month sobriety attempt, relapse and finally finding her day one over a roast dinner she couldn’t eat is one of the most universally recognisable on the podcast.Ash grew up in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire — quiet, bookish, nervous — and discovered alcohol at 15 outside Tesco with her friends, waiting for strangers to buy them Lambrini. She felt confidence for the first time. She also felt shame for the first time, dreading school on the Monday morning. Both feelings kept coming back for the next 18 years.From 17 to 19, living in a little cottage in Tewkesbury with a flatmate who matched her drink for drink, Ash’s party house became the social hub for everyone who hadn’t gone to uni, had no real goals, and was just plodding along drinking. Vodka after work became normal. So did walking home alone at 3am — including the night she fell down a riverbank in her going-out clothes, clawed her way back up through nettles, soaking wet and freezing cold, and carried on to her boyfriend’s house.Through her 20s, Ash settled into a pattern: Thursday night wine on the sofa, Friday hangover at her desk, Saturday binge, Sunday dying in bed. Her husband — sensible, moderate, with an off switch she never had — watched her consistently push past her limits every single time. When he went to bed, she’d stay up drinking alone. The hangovers started lasting a week. The shame never really left.At 25, a colleague recommended The Rise of the Sober Istas by Lucy Rocca. Ash read it, felt something shift, joined an early online sobriety community and started blogging. That was the first seed. It took another eight years to fully germinate.She did nearly 10 months sober in 2020 — set up a page, posted daily, was genuinely proud. Then the 30th birthdays started. She had one drink at a party, decided she was cured, deleted the sober page, and was back to square one within days. The lesson that stayed: never delete the page.A pregnancy gave her nine months of enforced sobriety she secretly loved. Then eight weeks after her daughter arrived, a hen party. Then Cheltenham Races — out from 9am, paralytic by afternoon, a blackout argument with a friend she can’t remember, a mortifying apology the next morning. Then a Mexican night out with margaritas that ended in the worst argument she and her husband had ever had — over nothing that would have mattered sober.Her actual day one came on a beautiful sunny Sunday, throwing up in the toilet, sat at a pub table in front of a roast dinner she couldn’t touch, and thinking quietly: what am I doing to myself? That was it. 137 days later, she was on the podcast. She’s now adopted rescue chickens, taken up running and joined a running group — and is posting daily on @BoozeFreeSparkle about why mummy wine culture isn’t cute, it’s damaging.You can find Ash on Insta at:https://www.instagram.com/boozefreesparkleSober StoriSupport the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 59 | Alex Leigh — From 90s Supermodel to Hiding Wine Bottles in Greece: A Story of Glamour, Grief & Getting SoberIn this dazzling and deeply human episode, Jimmy sits down with Alex Leigh — one of Britain’s top lingerie models of the 1990s, FHM’s top 100 sexiest women, a fixture at the most exclusive parties in London, and the woman who was secretly counting down to 6pm every night to open her first bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.Alex’s story starts with loss. A perfect childhood ended at seven when her father died of pancreatic cancer aged just 43. Her mother relocated the family to Mallorca, where Alex endured relentless bullying, had to translate her homework through three languages every night until 1am, and protected her grieving mother from the truth by pretending she loved every minute of it. When they moved back to Manchester, she channelled all that bottled-up pain into becoming a rebel — bunking off school, smoking behind the church, and getting into the Hacienda at 14 because she was already six foot two and blonde.At 16, a brother’s friend suggested modelling. Within months she was in London — a 16-year-old girl placed by her agency into a flat with a male photographer in his late 40s, with no chaperone, no advice about taxes, no instructions of any kind. Just dropped into the deep end of an industry where cocaine wasn’t offered, it was simply assumed. Bowl full of it at every party. Everyone doing it. No other way to be.The money came fast and hard — lingerie campaigns, FHM, travelling the world. And so did the chaos. Alex went from photo shoot to after party to plane to next city, frequently still drunk from the night before, stinking of fags and booze, wondering how she was getting away with it. She had a penthouse in Kensington, a driver, a Bulgari perfume box permanently stuffed with cocaine, and absolutely no idea how to manage money. Then the 2008 credit crunch arrived and she and her then-husband lost nine properties overnight.The second chapter brought Greece, a new relationship, two daughters — and a slow, secret slide into nightly bottle-of-wine drinking that became two bottles minimum, buying from different shops so nobody noticed the volume, padding her shopping so the bottles wouldn’t clink, hiding extras around the apartment. Until St. Patrick’s Day three years ago, when her mother took her daughter away and called her a disgrace. Alex woke up the next morning, hungover, sobbing, about to reach for a glass of wine to feel better — and in that moment thought: that’s it. I need help.She called AA in Greece. A kind man answered. She sobbed. He told her she wasn’t alone. She went religiously for a year. And then she moved on — because the best thing about recovery, she says, is that you finally get to live forward instead of back.You can get Alex on her Insta at:https://www.instagram.com/alex.leigh2.0?igsh=MW5lNDRycGg3NjgxbQ==And the rest of her links on linktree:https://linktr.ee/alexleigh2.0?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=17960b0f-56c9-4594-8528-f694d5c11340Veronica Valli - Soberful https://amzn.eu/d/0hAlJ2FcRussell Brand - Recoveryhttps://amzn.eu/d/07E3gRcQSupport the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 58 | Kaitlin Reeve — From Sitting on a Window Ledge at Nine to Nearly Three Years Clean: A Story of Escapism, Danger & RecoveryIn this searingly honest episode — released on Kaitlin’s birthday — Jimmy sits down with Kaitlin Reeve, founder of the Sober as a Mother Focused Instagram and one of the most unflinching voices in the UK recovery community. Kaitlin’s story spans childhood trauma, drug-induced psychosis, kidnapping, and the quiet moment in her garden that finally changed everything.Kaitlin grew up unhappy — a child who never felt okay, who escaped into fantasy, books, films and food before she had words for why. She was drinking at nine, allowed to get drunk at 13, and watched the adults around her become happier, calmer and less shouty when they used drugs and alcohol. The message she took from that? When I’m a grown-up, that’s what will make me happy.At 16 she had her first line of cocaine in a penthouse on High Street Kensington, surrounded by people she’d only ever seen in magazines. A girl from nothing, suddenly rubbing shoulders with Hollywood. She associated cocaine with glamour, freedom and escape — the antidote to every moment she’d spent feeling less than. She embraced it completely.What followed was years of escalating use: being locked in trap houses, kidnapped, nearly raped twice, and finding herself in the home of an international sex trafficking gang — all of which she shrugged off because the good still outweighed the bad. A controlling, abusive relationship followed. Then a period of sobriety, then relapse triggered by her body going into fight-or-flight shutdown so severe she couldn’t go to the toilet without cocaine. Then drug-induced psychosis — hearing things, seeing things, a size 4-6 frame barely eating or sleeping.The end came not with a dramatic rock bottom but with a quiet moment of exhaustion in her garden in late August 2022. Sick and tired of being sick and tired. She Googled 12-step fellowships, put on full makeup and her best outfit so nobody would think she was that bad, walked in — and by the end of the meeting said: Hi, I’m Kaitlin, I’m an addict. Her clean date is 6th September 2022.Nearly three and a half years on, Kaitlin sponsors other women, maintains her daily prayer and meditation, and uses Sober as a Mother Focused — a beautifully named Instagram — to share the reality of recovery for mothers without tips or preaching. Just her story, honestly told.You can find Kaitlin on instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/soberasamotherfocusedand on Tik Tokhttps://www.tiktok.com/@soberasamotherfocusedAddicted to Recovery Podcasthttps://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/addicted-to-recovery/id1727956037Rachel’s Holiday - Marian Keyes https://amzn.eu/d/0gXQ0NYvAgain Rachel - Marian Keyeshttps://amzn.eu/d/04hNE5ydOne Day https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16283804/?ref_=ext_shr_lnkThirteenhttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0328538/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk Tobacco, Alcohol and Drug statshttps://ourworldindata.org/grapher/substances-risk-factor-vs-direct-deathsSupport the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 57 | Cameron Kidd — From Waking Up in a Jungle Tuk-Tuk to 14 Months Sober in Copenhagen: Jersey Boy Finally Finds HimselfIn this warm, funny and deeply honest episode, Jimmy sits down with Cameron Kidd — Jersey-born, Copenhagen-based podcaster and host of TOMU: The Open Mic Unfiltered — whose story of binge drinking, blackouts, ADHD and finally getting sober at 34 is one of the most relatable the show has featured.Cameron had a decent childhood — loving parents, good school — but his parents’ move to France at 16 without really consulting him sent him into a spiral of resentment and freedom. Spat on and called an English pig at the French college, he was back on Jersey within days, living between his auntie’s house and a mate’s farmhouse with a bar downstairs, huge fields and summer bonfires. His own mini festival, every weekend. Ecstasy, weed, alcohol — and none of it feeling like a problem because everyone around him was doing the same.Through his twenties Cameron moved around constantly — Jersey, Glasgow, Thailand, back to Jersey, Copenhagen — chasing fresh starts that always ended the same way. In Thailand he woke up alone in a tuk-tuk in the middle of dense jungle on New Year’s Day with no memory of how he got there. He checked himself over, found his way back, and went out the following night. In Glasgow he woke up with the top of his ear hanging off and no idea how. He came home from a beach party with his hand badly burnt — found by friends trying to cool it in the sea, then wandering off, ending up at a corner shop where a stranger looked through his phone and called his dad. He had his jaw broken and didn’t go to hospital for two days because everyone told him he was fine.The blackouts became total. Every single time he drank, he remembered nothing — just fragments. He’d wake up and scan the room, reading the energy to figure out what he needed to apologise for. Until a night out in Copenhagen when a stranger approached him in a pub: “You don’t remember me, do you? You took me and the boys around the whole city, showed us an incredible night.” Cameron had no recollection of any of it. That was the moment that really scared him.The end came after a big night last October. He turned up at his girlfriend’s door wrecked, broke down completely — I’ve had enough, I don’t want to be here anymore, I’m tired — and she gave him an ultimatum. He went to KKUC, a Danish substance abuse programme, and it was there they asked: “Have you ever been tested for ADHD?” He hadn’t. He got the best grade of his life. The relief — and the grief — of finally understanding why he’d always been this way was overwhelming.Now 14 months clean, medicated for ADHD, living in Copenhagen with his girlfriend and hosting his own podcast, Cameron is slowly learning who he is without alcohol. The hardest part? Someone once asked him what he enjoys — and he had no answer. But he’s finding his way back to the curious, excited boy he once was. One day at a time.Follow Cameron on Insta:https://www.instagram.com/tomupodcast?And all of Cameron's other links here:https://linktr.ee/tomupodcastSupport the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 56 | Anna Donaghey — The Advertising Insider Who Sold Alcohol to a Nation, Drank Herself Sober & Wrote the Book on Rethinking DrinkingIn this sharp, revealing and genuinely thought-provoking episode, Jimmy sits down with Anna Donaghey — sober coach, podcast host of The Big Drink Rethink, author of What Are You Thirsty For?, and former senior advertising executive who spent 25 years helping the alcohol industry grow.Anna’s story begins unremarkably — a good childhood near Bristol, parents divorced at 16, first drink at 14 through a slightly older boyfriend, the usual combination of rebellion, escapism and enjoying the feeling. Brighton University, a course that took her to Turin, a taste of Italian wine culture, and a graduate scheme at Rover that would set the trajectory of everything that followed.It was on the factory floor at Rover in Birmingham that Anna first understood what her drinking was really about — fitting in. Shoulder to shoulder with brilliant, salt-of-the-earth workmates who poured out of the production lines at noon on Fridays and drank until they couldn’t stand. A home counties girl who could sink eight pints and still win at darts. They loved her for it. She loved them for accepting her. It felt like belonging.That need for belonging followed her to London, to advertising agencies in Soho, to client lunches that turned into client evenings, to fridges full of Stella Artois that opened at 6pm, to airport lounges and expense accounts and the seamless social world of agency life where work and drinking were completely indistinguishable. For over a decade, she was one of the best in the business — and she sat in boardrooms with the biggest alcohol companies in the world, helping them figure out how to create new drinkers, convert existing ones, and — most sinisterly — draw in younger audiences without technically breaking the rules.She would never have worked on a cigarette account. She’d have stood up and said no. But she worked on alcohol. She just didn’t know the difference yet.Six years ago, with no dramatic rock bottom and no catastrophic crisis, Anna simply looked at her life and saw two futures. One where she carried on and didn’t reach old age. One where she stopped. She stopped. And discovered that sobriety isn’t a destination — it’s a gateway.Now a sober coach, author and podcaster, Anna has flipped the question the recovery community usually asks. Not “how bad is your drinking?” but “is your life good enough?” Because if you’re a heavy drinker and your life isn’t where you wanted it to be, the chances are alcohol has far more to do with that than you realise.Buy Anna’s book - ‘What Are You Thirsty For? Rethinking Alcohol and The Life You Want’Amazon: https://amzn.to/47agUn2Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/what-are-you-thirsty-for/anna-donaghey/9781915780607 Connect with Anna:Website: thebigdrinkrethink.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annadonagheyInstagram: instagram.com/bigdrinkrethinkSupport the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 55 | Emily Chadbourne — 7 Years Sober in Melbourne: The Woman Who Stopped Before Rock Bottom & Wrote Down Every WinIn this warm, honest and deeply insightful episode, Jimmy sits down with Emily Chadbourne — personal development coach, sober advocate and Melbourne-based expat from the South West of England — whose story of grey area drinking, isolation in outback Australia and a meditation that changed everything is one of the most uniquely told recovery stories the podcast has featured.Emily grew up near Glastonbury with parents who modelled a healthy relationship with alcohol — sherry on Sundays, gin at Christmas, nothing more. There was no trauma, no family history of alcoholism, and no obvious reason. Just a classic 1990s teenage girl sneaking cider in Somerset parks, a university degree she could have aced but didn’t bother to, and a hospitality career in London that put her shoulder-deep in a world where every meeting, every celebration, every Tuesday was a drinking occasion. She was fun, efficient, capable — and always the last one standing.At thirty, she moved to Airlie Beach in Queensland with her boyfriend, and everything fell apart. Not dramatically, but quietly. The scaffolding of identity — her career, her friendships, her sense of significance — was removed, and she discovered she had no idea who she was without it. She drank every night. Alone. In the heat. In a town that closed at 8pm.Melbourne was better, but the drinking didn’t stop. Working for herself as a coach, with no office hours and no colleagues to moderate around, she started buying two-for-twenty at the bottle shop after lunch meetings. Half a bottle by 7pm. A bottle with dinner. That unopened second bottle waiting when she got home. Three and a half bottles between lunch and bedtime, and never visibly drunk. Hiding empties from her housemates. Telling herself it was fine.Then 2017 arrived like a wrecking ball. Her mum died of cancer. Her business collapsed. Her boyfriend left — and was in a new relationship with one of her best friends within weeks. She drank from coffee cups so her housemates wouldn’t see. She drank in the morning. She drank at her dad’s house by sneaking to his spirits cabinet between toilet trips.The Sri Lanka trip was the turning point. On holiday in paradise, Emily couldn’t be present for a single moment — every thought consumed by when the next drink was coming, how to get someone else to suggest it, how to engineer the beer before the train without being seen as the one who needed it. She came home, went back to the UK, and did the same thing with her sisters. On the flight back to Melbourne she decided: when this plane lands, that’s it.A business mentor asked her to identify one thing holding her back. She begged internally for it not to be alcohol. Of course it was alcohol. That night she went out, got blackout drunk, and remembers nothing of her last ever drink. The following Sunday she walked into her first AA meeting.What happened next was remarkable. Emily told everyone immediately — using the label of alcoholic not out of shame but as a strategic firewall so she could never quietly slip back. She wrote down every single good thing that happened asSupport the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 54 | Adrian Cox — Clarinet, Bad Manners & 12 Years Sober: The Jazz Musician Who Left Home at 15 and Didn’t Stop Until His Hip CrumbledIn this extraordinary, funny and deeply moving episode, Jimmy sits down with Adrian Cox — jazz clarinettist, Bad Manners veteran, sober advocate, and one of the most uniquely entertaining recovery stories in the podcast’s history.Adrian’s story begins at 15 in Burgess Hill, near Brighton — already playing the clarinet professionally at gigs since he was 12, already smoking and drinking in parks, already the kid who brought a bottle of whiskey to every party. At a festival in Butlins, Bognor Regis, a trombone player spotted him and sent a postcard to his sons: met a lad, got no brain, but by chance plays the clarinet, call him. Within weeks, Adrian was on tour, dropped back for his English GCSE, and then called up to join the band full time. He left home at 15, moved to Totnes, Devon — and never really stopped moving for the next two decades.Living with musicians twice and three times his age, with no parents, no bank account and no instruction manual for adulthood, Adrian fell into a world where cooking sherry by the river at midnight was completely normal. In the first month in their flat, he and his bandmate Russell cleared 80 litres of sherry. By 18, he was getting kidney pains. By 21, a swollen liver — and a doctor telling him to stop. He did, for seven months. On the way home from his follow-up appointment, he stopped at a pub. Within weeks he was back on three bottles of wine and ten pints of Guinness a day.Then came London, a heavier drinking band, a marriage, a divorce, and in 2007: cocaine. Which led, inevitably, to Bad Manners — the UK’s most legendary party band, where waking up on the American tour bus at 3am to drink a bottle of tequila before going back to sleep was just what Tuesday looked like.The reckoning came on 27th March 2014. The night before his hospital appointment — where a doctor would tell him he had avascular necrosis caused by alcohol, where the blood had thinned so much it had stopped feeding his bones and the ball of his hip had partially crumbled away — he had the biggest drinking night of his entire life. A box of wine, ten pints of Guinness, three bottles of champagne, five grams of cocaine. He’d had so many near-misses he’d developed a special outfit to wear drinking near hospitals: a Ben Sherman poppered shirt (easy to open for an ECG) and slip-on shoes. He’d been admitted multiple times. This time the doctor told him: stop, or lose your legs.He stopped. A Swedish concert-goer paid for a private hip replacement. And then cocaine took over completely — until he gambled his way to £138,000 in online winnings, spent it all within weeks chasing the same feeling, and ended up £87,000 in debt to Buster Bloodvessel of Bad Manners, spending months living a double life before a breakdown in Edinburgh and his girlfriend’s phone call ended it.Cocaine stopped in 2016. MDMA in 2018. But it wasn’t until February this year — now 12 years alcohol-free, living in rural Sweden with his girlfriend and her two boys, with a driving licence, a residency permit, a limited company and a meditation book — that Adrian Support the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 53 | Amy Devine — From Newbury Council Estates to Peru: 3 Years Sober, Ayahuasca & the Serbian Housemate Who Changed EverythingIn this warm, wide-ranging and genuinely one-of-a-kind episode, Jimmy sits down with Amy Devine — sobriety mentor, breathwork facilitator, founder of Numb No More and the Sober Sisterhood Breathwork Circle — speaking from her home in Pisac, Peru, surrounded by mountains. Her story spans council estates in Berkshire, 11 years teaching in Beijing, a broken elbow on a COVID flight she can’t remember, and an ayahuasca ceremony that finally showed her why she’d been drinking in the first place.Amy grew up in Newbury — Irish parents, violence, dysfunction, and alcohol as the central currency of family life. Her parents split when she was six. Summers in Ireland, school in England, a house fire that moved the family to a council estate a week before Christmas with nothing. She was 11 when she had her worst drunk — stolen South African port with a girl her mum had banned her from seeing, found lost on a roundabout by her little brother’s teacher. By 14, drinking four or five cans a night was simply what she did.Through college and a sociology/criminology degree at Chester — chosen almost by accident when her insurance pick got in and her first choice didn’t — Amy somehow held it together academically while drinking daily. After graduating with a 2:1 she neither expected nor remembers quite earning, she moved to Beijing to teach English, intending to stay a year. She stayed eleven.Beijing was electric, chaotic and — for foreigners — consequence-free. Drink for free in bars, ride your scooter drunk through traffic, no rules and always someone to go out with. Through Beijing, Vietnam and back to Beijing, Amy’s drinking escalated through her twenties and early thirties. She developed a pattern: hold it together just enough for work, drink the rest of the time.The nadir came on a COVID-era flight back to China. She’d been on a 10-week binge in India, drinking to manage withdrawal in the mornings, bribing strangers to get alcohol through quarantine. She drank most of a box of wine in duty-free before boarding, mixed it with Valium, and woke up in Beijing with a sore elbow and no memory. Strangers told her she’d been dragged to the back of the plane for refusing to wear a mask. The bruise turned black all the way down her arm. She’d broken her elbow. She didn’t stop drinking.Back in Beijing, a Serbian housemate sat her down: “You’ve got a drink problem and you need to sort it out.” It was the first time anyone had ever said it directly to her face. That led to AA in Beijing — a warm, safe expat meeting full of people who’d been sober 16, 20 years — and six months of genuine recovery. Then Christmas came, and she thought she’d learned enough to moderate. She relapsed for a year and a half.The second attempt was different. A dry November led by a therapist friend inspired by This Naked Mind. Then January 1st, 2022 — online AA, a new sponsor, and at six months sober: ayahuasca. The plant medicine took her back through her childhood, showed her exactly why she’d been drinking, and removed any remaining desire for alcohol. She told her AA sponsor. She wasSupport the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 52 | Alicia Butler — 173 Days Sober, a Viral Day One & Why ‘You Don’t Have a Problem’ Are the Most Dangerous Words in RecoveryIn this warm, funny and deeply honest episode, Jimmy sits down with Alicia Butler — the woman whose raw, tearful Day One Instagram video went viral and has been inspiring people to get sober ever since — for a conversation about grey area drinking, gym culture, champagne budgets and the slow creep of something that nearly cost her everything.Alicia grew up in Darlington, County Durham — a good childhood, loving family, no obvious trauma. Her uncle was an alcoholic, and she wonders now about addictive genetics, but at the time she just thought she liked champagne. What began as an after-work culture in London — where even people who lived an hour away never went home, they just stayed in the pub — slowly became a bottle of wine a night at home. Then two bottles. Then champagne instead, because she preferred it. Then Aldi started selling Prosecco for £9.99 a bottle, and that was that.The creeping nature of Alicia’s drinking is what makes her story so relatable. She was still going to the gym. Still working. Still functioning. Her nutritionist kept telling her to cut down on alcohol and she kept refusing — so instead she worked out a calorie budget that excluded food so she could keep her bottle of wine a night. She’d hide bottles in the boot of her car at parties so nobody else could drink them. She’d sometimes finish the last inch of last night’s bottle in the morning. And still, somewhere in her head, she didn’t think she had a problem.Then she went to an alcohol support group. She told them she was drinking a bottle of wine a night, sometimes two. They laughed. “That’s nothing,” they said. “You don’t have a problem.” She walked out thinking she had a green light.The piece of paper she found during a clear-out said it all: written in 2017, it was a mood board with a list of goals, and at the top: Avoid booze. She’d known for seven years. Her mum had asked her to stop drinking on her deathbed fourteen years ago. She still couldn’t manage two days.The suicidal episodes — leaving the house with a knife, lying by the canal, smashing a picture frame over her husband’s head — she hadn’t connected to the alcohol. It was just her emotions. Just her anxiety. Just a bad night. Until she did.What finally worked was Instagram. Day One. She sat in her bedroom, pressed record, cried, and uploaded it. It went viral. Suddenly there were thousands of people saying me too. She couldn’t go back — not just because she didn’t want to, but because she’d told everyone, and the accountability was the lock on the door.Now approaching 200 days sober, Alicia is a different person: sleeping well, managing stress, driving herself home from parties at midnight with a cup of tea in mind, and posting every day for the people who are still on Day One wondering if it’s worth it.Find Alicia on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/champagnetochangeDavid Nutt - Drink:https://amzn.eu/d/62xPsgTLouisa Evans - Becoming A Sober Rebel:https://amzn.eu/d/aSILJXtSupport the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEpisode 51 | Jimmy Thistle — The Host’s Full Story: From Vodka at Dawn to 5 Years Sober on the Isle of ManAfter 50 episodes of interviewing others, Jimmy Thistle finally sits in the guest chair — interviewed by his wife Jen — and tells his full story for the first time on his own podcast.Jimmy grew up in Eaglesham, a village outside Glasgow, in a mostly happy childhood with an older brother, a mum who worked hard, and a dad who left when he was six. No major trauma. No clear reason. Just a 14-year-old who had his first proper drink with his brother one night and loved it immediately — the confidence, the escapism, the feeling. From there it was Diamond White in the woods, vodka and iron bru, and a creeping realisation that while his friends had an off switch, he simply didn’t.Through Aberdeen, London, Cambridge, York and the Isle of Man, Jimmy’s story is a masterclass in what the recovery community calls geographicals — the belief that moving somewhere new will fix what follows you everywhere. Bar work, bank jobs, photography, sales roles. A DUI. A photography course where he got triple distinction. A pub he took over near Sheffield that ended with the police, a friend crashing his car, the owners taking his laptop as collateral, and him driving home without a back windscreen. A codependent relationship where they were both drinking a bottle of whiskey each per night. A spontaneous midnight drive to Stansted, a drunk flight to Mallorca, a mugging that cost him his laptop and camera, and a rescue by his brother.The final stretch was the darkest. Drinking vodka before he’d opened his eyes in the morning. Sitting under the Humber Bridge in his car, telling his partner he was going to work. Losing job after job. An intervention by his family. Twenty-eight days in rehab — three days before COVID lockdown. Fifty-five days sober. Then back on it with a vengeance. His friend locked him in the house and he found a hidden door behind a bookcase. He bought alcohol-free beer as a cover story in case someone knocked. His mum measured 40ml of vodka eight times a day on doctor’s orders while he slipped out between doses to top up from the shop.Finally, a hospital detox on the Isle of Man with Librium. Then 100 meetings in 100 days. Then a cottage in the hills, a gardening business, a photography revival, a podcast, peer mentoring, sober coaching training — and Jen.This is Jimmy’s story. And now, nearly six years on, he’s never felt more certain of one thing: he’s done.Support the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan MailEven more amazing and incredible guests coming your way in 2026!From heartbreaking stories to triumphs and hope, you wont want to miss out! Get ready on New Year's Day 2026 for the first episode drop! Support the showMy Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/My Instagram is:https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmyAnd you can find all my other links at:https://linktr.ee/jimmythistleBuy me a coffee…https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmytAlcohol Explained - William Porterhttps://a.co/d/0854fIb6This Naked Mind - Annie Gracehttps://a.co/d/0gy6mT9ZA Million Little Pieces - James Freyhttps://a.co/d/0jdcIjGbDonate:https://motiv8.im/donate/https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.