Charlie Brooks has opened up on her sobriety journey as she confessed her fearful nightouts would leave her crawling home.
The former EastEnders star, 44, who is best known for her role as Janine Butcher in the BBC soap opera, shared an album of pictures illustrating her progress from drinking and smoking to sober nature walks with her dog.
In her post, she confessed she loved smoking and drinking rounds of tequila shots.
But she has now turned her life around as she revealed she had stopped ‘abandoning’ herself and prioritised her health and wellbeing now she was in her 40s.
Alongside her album, she penned: ‘Fags and booze. Oh my god. I used to LOVE them. My skin, body and mind… did not.
‘Late nights. Smokers’ corner. Tequila rounds. New Zealand Marlborough Sauv Blanc. My absolute faves — until they weren’t.
Charlie Brooks, 44, has opened up on her sobriety journey as she confessed her fearful nightouts would leave her crawling home with missing shoes and an empty bank account
The EastEnders star, 44, who is best known for her role as Janine Butcher in the BBC soap, shared an album of pictures illustrating her progress from drinking and smoking to sober nature walks
‘The things I’d lose on a night out! Came home once with one shoe on. My favourite f**king shoes too. Empty bank. Regret. Fear. Repeat. Important to say I had some bloody good times too.
‘That loop lasted a decade. Ten years of “never again” followed by… again. Until 6 years ago.
‘I didn’t want to enter my 40s on the same merry-go-round. I wanted to change. Podcasts. Books. A community of people doing the same.
‘I stopped abandoning myself. Stopped sabotaging. Got intentional — with everything. Not all at once. Little by little. Because change takes time.
‘And time feels different now. I’m learning when to push, when to pause, and when to get out of the f**king way and let life reveal itself.
‘It’s work in progress. Always. And yes — the sober glow is a thing! I’ve had Botox before. Didn’t love it. A touch of lip filler — No judgement here. Getting older can be a wild ride.’
Charlie has been on a health kick for the last four years as she revealed she had given up alcohol in 2021 because she was ‘fed-up of feeling s**t’.
She confessed that while she has enjoyed her party days over the years, she felt she couldn’t have just one glass of wine and it would turn into a bottle or three.
In her post, Charlie (pictured in EastEnders in 2022) confessed she loved smoking and drinking tequila rounds and dubbed them her ‘faves’
She has now turned her life around as she revealed she had stopped ‘abandoning’ herself and prioritised her health and wellbeing now she was in her 40s
Talking about her decision to become teetotal on Kate Thornton’s White Wine Question Time podcast, Charlie said: ‘I’ve partied a lot and really enjoyed it.
‘A glass of wine is never a glass of wine, it’s a bottle or three. I thought, “It’s time to change. I don’t want to do this any more”.
‘I was so fed up with feeling s***, repetitive behaviour patterns, feeling like I was doing the same thing all the time, and actually I felt like my life was standing still a bit.
‘The acting world is hard and I’ve done some lovely stuff, but you spend most of your time unemployed and not getting jobs’.
According to Charlie, she felt it was necessary to stop drinking to reach her full potential.
She continued: ‘I feel like there may have been some things I missed out on. Sometimes I feel the booze robs you of your potential.
‘I suppose it was necessary for me to stop drinking in order to invent myself. I feel I’m becoming much more cemented in who I am, and creative and trusting.
‘I’m not saying it’s forever, because I f***ing love a drink and a party, but right now it’s 100 per cent one of the best things I’ve ever done.’
