Liberty X singer Michelle Heaton has bravely opened up about her battle with alcohol, admitting there was a time when she didn’t think she would be able to perform without drinking – but she can now “sing and dance better” than before.
Michelle Heaton “never thought” she would be able to perform without alcohol.
The Liberty X singer, 45, spent years battling a drinking problem before checking into rehab in 2021 to receive help, and she is now able to “sing and dance better” since quitting booze.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, she said: “I’m able to perform without alcohol, and that was something that I never thought I was able to do.
“I didn’t know how to perform without alcohol and it’s a whole different ball game now – I can actually sing and dance better.”
At the height of her alcohol problem, Michelle used to disguise bottles of vodka as sparkling water.
The star also used to promise herself she wouldn’t drink heavily the following day, but often by 3pm she was consuming alcohol again.
She said: “I was hiding my alcohol from my husband … I would be openly drinking in front of him, maybe a bottle of wine a night, and that’s what he thought was my normal. I suppose at the time, everyone was drinking a lot more, but it was more… I would have a bottle of vodka [in addition] usually, and the thing is, I would always swear that I wouldn’t do it again tomorrow, and I would promise myself that I wouldn’t drink like that tomorrow and then by 3 o’clock in the afternoon, it was all out the window. I could not stop. I was dependent on alcohol.”
Michelle admits the last couple of years of her alcohol dependency were her “really, really bad”, because she lost friends and family members who “didn’t want to talk” to her.
She said: “I think for me, the last couple of years of my drinking was really, really bad.
“I was in and out of hospital, but I really thought I had control of my drinking. At some points I really enjoyed my drinking, it was very social, it was lockdown and we had those garden parties outside, and I had problems beforehand but it definitely escalated things.
“There were lots of ups and downs, there were lots of periods where I was in hospital and I lost jobs, and members of my family and my friends just didn’t want to talk to me anymore.”
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV1, ITVX, STV STV Player.
Michelle Heaton: I never thought I’d be able to perform without alcohol
