Ulrika Jonsson has revealed she is four months sober after admitting she was using alcohol to “escape from my woes”.
The TV presenter told the Sun newspaper she “sobbed like a child” after her best friend told her she needed help with her drinking.
Having split with husband Brian Monet in 2019, Jonsson said she had “no one to lean on” amid “family problems and personal issues”.
“It was just me and my friend, the drink,” she told the newspaper.
Jonsson said she knew there was a problem because “I no longer recognised myself”.
The 57-year-old said she wasn’t a regular drinker but she was heading towards drinking every day “when things got bad over the past year”.
“I established a routine of drinking then punishing myself with hard work through my hangover,” she said.
“And then reward myself with another drink at the end of it all.”
Jonsson said sobriety had brought her “much-needed peace”.
“Drink quelled my anxiety,” she said.
“I was a highly functioning binge drinker. I never woke up dishevelled in a pool of sick.
“But the number of times I would black out and not recall the night before when I had been drinking alone, were increasing.”
Jonsson said that drinking “stifled my anger” as she used it to “remember the good times and to forget the present bad times”.
“It was the perfect escape from my woes,” she told the newspaper.
“When I drank, I felt I became a better, nicer person, and more equipped to cope.
“The truth, of course, was quite the opposite.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel