Michelle Heaton: "Ive been through a lot but Im a strong woman

Michelle Heaton has turned her life around quite spectacularly since she quit boozing two and a half years ago.

The former Liberty X singer, who is mum to Faith, 11, and nine-year-old Aaron, hit rock bottom in 2021 when she entered a rehab facility due to her alcohol addiction.

But since then she’s managed to stay sober and, despite recently battling the elements – and sharing a bedroom with former health secretary Matt Hancock – on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, she is now living a “happy, joyous” life.

This month, as thousands take part in Sober October – an initiative that encourages people to give up alcohol and raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support – she is sharing her experiences of recovery to help others who are struggling.

Back in April, Michelle, 44, celebrated two years of sobriety, telling fans she was finally free from “the pain and terror of addiction”.

Here, in an exclusive interview with OK! , the star opens up on her road to recovery and her “one of a kind” husband Hugh Hanley, 44, and offers advice to women struggling with early menopause…

Hi, Michelle. How does it feel to be marking two and a half years of sobriety?

I’m feeling amazing. I’m so free now and it’s a place I dreamed of getting to. I can’t tell you the amount of messages I get from people who share their stories of addiction with me. I just want to help all of them.

You’ve documented your recovery on social media. What made you want to be so open about it?

For me, not being open and honest drove me deeper into my addictions in the first place. Once I was honest with myself and able to ask for help, it opened the door for my recovery. Anonymity in the recovery programme was taken away from me because of my choice of career, so that was difficult at the time, because people knew where I was and what I was doing. When I came out of rehabilitation, my family and I decided to share my story in my own time and in my own words so the narrative couldn’t be twisted by people around me who were so-called friends.

That was very brave of you. Who was twisting your story?

I had people who were trying to make a bit of money on the side and sell their experiences of my addiction. Those people know who they are. So I took matters into my own hands to tell my truth. It did me a favour in the end – it helped me to be honest and to help others.

How have your family supported you over the past couple of years?

I’m truly blessed to have the support network that I do. It’s not always a happy ending for families in the same situation. The addict’s families go through their own suffering and pain and end up with their own trauma. But we have worked through that now. I have such an amazing husband and we are stronger than ever. I’ll always sing his praises because he’s one of a kind and I’m very, very lucky.

You’re really into fitness. Does that help keep you focused?

Exercise definitely helps me. I’ve always been into working out and being healthy, but Covid happened and I got deeper into my addictions. But nothing keeps me sober other than my recovery programme. All of these habits and behaviours that I have now, I wouldn’t be able to have if I wasn’t sober.

Are initiatives like Sober October helpful?

I think Sober October is a good place to start and can make people realise they can give up or cut down. My only worry is that people use it to feel better about their drinking during that month, and then drink twice as much over Christmas! But it’s a good initiative to get people thinking about their alcohol consumption.

You’ve spoken about exercise helping with the menopause, too…

It definitely does help. I went into surgical menopause nine years ago when I was in my thirties and it was very sudden [Michelle had a hysterectomy at 35 to reduce her risk of ovarian cancer]. I wasn’t equipped for it at
all. I was just told that the surgery was going to be lifesaving, so I did it. Since then, me speaking out, along with people like Davina McCall, has changed the narrative when it comes to menopause and talking about it. Every woman goes through it and again, it’s something that affects your family, too.

You’ve been on our screens in Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins . What was that like?

I went on SAS to prove to myself that, no matter what I’ve been through – and I’ve been through quite a lot – I can be this strong woman. And I’ve realised I can be a strong woman without actually being perfect for SAS ! I spoke to people who had been on it before like Vicky Pattison, Jeff Brazier and Jake Quickenden, so I knew it was going to be intense. But you can’t prepare yourself for something like this – it’s on a different level.

What was the toughest part?

I had to learn to keep my mouth shut, which was good for me, because I can be a bit of a fool and I do
like to make light-hearted jokes in stressful situations. The physical side of things was tough. We were carrying weights that were the same for everyone, so things like that I couldn’t do as well as others. We did a challenge where we went into a gas chamber, which freaked me out. I completely panicked. You can’t breathe and it felt like I was going to erupt or die because I couldn’t breathe. It was wild.

What did you learn from the experience?

That I’m not superhuman. I am 44 and I don’t have to be good at everything to be able to be strong. I learnt acceptance and that I can do a lot of things. I was proud of myself.

Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, stream or watch live on Channel 4, Sundays at 9pm

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