Michelle McManus has opened up on her decision to cut out alcohol, admitting that when drinking she ‘didn’t have a stop button’.
The singer, 43, appeared on Tuesday’s Loose Women, 20 years after winning the second series of Pop Idol.
Discussing her win, she said: ‘I can’t believe it’s been so long! I was 23 at the time and I don’t think I’d be able to go through that now with social media. I don’t think I would have been mentally strong enough.’
Michelle then got emotional as she recalled her experience in the competition, as it was tainted by judgements about her looks.
She broke into tears as she described feeling ‘such shame’ over the trolling she received and stories written about her while on the show.
Michelle McManus has opened up on her decision to cut out alcohol, admitting that when drinking she ‘didn’t have a stop button’
The singer, 43, appeared on Tuesday’s Loose Women, 20 years after winning the second series of Pop Idol (pictured on show in 2003)
Michelle then got emotional as she recalled her experience in the competition, as it was tainted by judgements about her looks
Michelle said: ‘It was really difficult. I don’t know why I’m getting emotional now, it was twenty years ago.”
‘One of the first articles that popped out said at the top “Can Michelle sing? Yes. Is she going to be a pop star? But come on lads, you wouldn’t would you?” And that’s where it went.’
She went on: ‘I felt such shame from some of the comments like I had let everyone down. I couldn’t understand why people had voted for me because of the comments.
‘I would say no now if my daughter asked to go on a show like that because of social media now.’
Michelle then discussed her decision to stop drinking, after she chose to go sober four years ago.
She confessed she had an unhealthy relationship with booze due to the negative attention she received and that since cutting it out she feels ‘more empowered.
She said: ‘I love alcohol. For a long time alcohol was my best friend. Then when I got in my late thirties, early forties, alcohol kind of fell out with me and I fell out with alcohol and I just thought it’s time to remove it from my life.
‘I didn’t have a stop button, I’d always have a couple of glasses of red and then be like, “Where’s the Jack Daniels?” ‘And I just thought I wish I could be a social drinker but I never was, so I just cut it out of my life.
She broke into tears as she described feeling ‘such shame’ over the trolling she received and stories written about her while on the show (pictured on show in 2003)
Michelle then discussed her decision to stop drinking, after she chose to go sober four years ago
She confessed she had an unhealthy relationship with booze due to the negative attention she received and that since cutting it out she feels ‘more empowered’
‘And now it’s been one of the best things I’ve ever done. That has been a part of me feeling more empowered.’
Michelle spoke about her sobriety earlier this month, revealing the turning point had been when she fell pregnant with her first child in 2019.
She explained that she had been dependent on alcohol from her early twenties, in order to cope with her low self-esteem as a form of ‘escapism’.
However by her mid-thirties she began to realise it was an issue when she began to embarrass herself and could not remember getting home after nights out.
Speaking on the Why Aren’t You Drinking podcast, Michelle revealed: ‘I stopped drinking in 2019 on the day I got my positive pregnancy test and it was a blessing for so many reasons.
‘Falling pregnant helped me make the massive decision to give up alcohol which I had been too scared to make.
‘I didn’t really know who I was without alcohol, not because I felt really that I was dependent on it, but it had been such a huge part of my life and my persona.
‘It was a form of escapism when I maybe wasn’t reading such nice things about me or I didn’t feel as confident as I do now.
Michelle spoke about her sobriety earlier this month, revealing the turning point had been when she fell pregnant with her first child in 2019
She explained that she had been dependent on alcohol from her early twenties, in order to cope with her low self-esteem as a form of ‘escapism’
However by her mid-thirties she began to realise it was an issue when she began to embarrass herself and could not remember getting home after nights out
‘Alcohol was a way for me to go “Goodbye world”. For a long time I never got very drunk and I was one of those ones who could drink everyone under the table.’
She continued: ‘Then something happened in my mid-thirties where after a couple of drinks it was like I had dived off a cliff.
‘I was getting so drunk, I couldn’t remember getting home and I was making a fool of myself. I never had a full-stop button.
‘I went from being that person who was a great drunk and could remember everything to being the person that everyone said to the next day, “Are you okay?”
‘I started to spiral at that point. After every time I would drink I would say “I’m not drinking again,” but then the weekend would come around and I didn’t know how to function without going out drinking with my friends.’
Michelle has now been sober for four years and expressed how much better she feels, explaining she is still able to go out socialising with her friends.
She added: ‘I didn’t dare to do it until I fell pregnant but I have never looked back. There is no place in my life just now for alcohol and I feel my life is greatly enhanced without it.
‘My mental health is so much better, I feel I am a better person and I feel healthier. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to give up.’
