Justin Hawkins: ‘Drugs became my main source of nutrition and inspiration’ | 1

How Do You Cope?

Wondery

Health & Fitness, Mental Health

5 • 695 Ratings

🗓️ 24 February 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What does recovery look like when you're a rockstar at the height of your fame? Justin Hawkins sits down with John to talk about addiction, giving his life a hard reset, and darts.

How Do You Cope has a new home, and John’s first guest is the lead singer of The Darkness, famed for the timeless hit ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’. In a wide-ranging and candid conversation, Justin tells John about becoming dependent on drugs to perform on stage, his experiences of rehab, and how sadness consumed him for 6 years.

There’s also more chat about darts than you’d probably imagine, and Justin explains how he became Meatloaf’s support animal.

There’ll be more from Justin on Thursday in our bonus episode The Gratitude List, where he’ll be describing the 5 things that he is currently grateful for.

You can send in your thoughts and reflections to [email protected], or follow the show on Instagram and TikTok @howdoyoucopepod.

If you need help, you can find advice and someone to talk to by visiting https://www.talktofrank.com/

Listen to How Do You Cope on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/howdoyoucope now.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wonderry Plus subscribers can listen to episodes of How Do You Cope early and ad-free?
0:04.7	Join Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts.
0:09.2	This advert is brought to you by Macmillan Cancer Support, a registered charity.
0:14.1	If you or someone you care about has been diagnosed with cancer, the Macmillan online community is here.
0:19.6	Macmillan's online community is open 24-7.
0:23.0	It's a free, safe space to connect with people who get what it's like to have cancer.
0:27.6	You can browse groups, ask questions to an expert, share your experience, or just see what
0:32.6	others have to say. On the online community, no question is too big, too small or too personal.
0:38.7	Their members have all been there too. Plus, it's completely anonymous.
0:42.9	Search McMillan online community today.
0:49.5	Hello and welcome to a brand new series of How Do You Cope with me, John Robbins.
0:59.3	This is the podcast where I sit down with special guests to talk about the journeys they've been through and the obstacles they have overcome.
1:06.6	Everyone faces different struggles in life and everyone deals with them differently.
1:10.4	So I want to ask my guests the simple question, how do you cope?
1:14.8	Some of you may have listened to a previous iteration of this podcast, hosted by myself and fellow presenter Ellis James.
1:20.9	If that's you, then welcome to the new home of how do you cope.
1:24.3	And if you're a new listener, you're also very welcome.
1:27.2	You'll be hearing a range of
1:28.3	conversations on this show from comedian Rosie Jones, talking about how she deals with receiving
1:33.0	hate and abuse online, to fitness coach Joe Wicks, talking about the challenges of his childhood.
1:39.2	I really hope you'll be able to take something away from each of the conversations I have,
1:43.8	whether that's a
	...

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