Millie Mackintosh: “I would drink to forget” Self-esteem, shame, and sobriety
Happy Place
Fearne Cotton
4.6 • 15.2K Ratings
🗓️ 27 January 2025
⏱️ 71 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When does a coping mechanism become a problem? Millie Mackintosh talks through the big moments she realised her drinking was affecting both her own health and the people she loves.
In this chat Fearne and Millie cover panic attacks and intrusive thoughts, which can both get particularly bad when secrecy and shame are driving risky behaviours. Then, how do you start to forgive yourself for the things you’re not proud of? And how can you talk to yourself kindly when you fall back into old patterns of behaviour?
Plus, Millie explains how ADHD can interact with addiction, and what small lifestyle changes have made a huge difference to her physical and mental health.
Do you want to drink less? Fearne and Millie chat about how they learnt to enjoy social events without alcohol.
Millie's book, Bad Drunk, is out now.
If you liked this episode of Happy Place, you might also like:
CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains conversations about sexual assault
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Transcript
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| 0:00.7 | Hello and welcome to Happy Place. I'm Fern Cotton and this is the show that nudges you towards healthier habits. |
| 0:08.4 | Today I'm chatting to Millie McIntosh. We did couple's therapy and I really had to own up to the harm that I'd caused him in the relationship through my drinking and the horrible things I'd said to him. I've turned into quite a mean |
| 0:22.8 | drunk in the last couple of years of drinking, which I feel, I do feel horrible about that and seeing my |
| 0:28.8 | children and wanting them to grow up with a mother that was going to be present, that wasn't going to be |
| 0:32.9 | so anxious that she couldn't communicate properly with them. I didn't want them to grow up and be |
| 0:39.3 | influenced by having a mother with a drinking problem. Hello guys. You catch me in an absolute |
| 0:46.2 | shitstorm today of one kid being off ill, trying to prep podcast for the week and record this |
| 0:52.7 | very intro as we get ready for this week's |
| 0:56.1 | episode of Happy Place. It is one of those days where everything is just a bit of a mess. |
| 1:03.8 | Certainly the room my son is sat in currently with sort of snacks strewn about the place. |
| 1:10.0 | Obviously YouTube blaring loudly, etc. The juggle is real, |
| 1:15.4 | but we're doing it. Do you know what I'm doing to get through it today? I'm just eating. I'm |
| 1:20.2 | comfy eating. And I think here and there, why not? Go for what makes you happy. And for me, |
| 1:26.3 | it's just chocolate. I don't think there's a better invention |
| 1:29.0 | um butter on toast a close second but for me chocolate all the way i'm generally comforted today by |
| 1:36.5 | chocolate um on that note we've got some big stuff to talk about milly she's an entrepreneur |
| 1:42.9 | an influencer and made in Chelsea alumni. |
| 1:47.0 | Now, if you follow her on Instagram, you may well know that she decided to go alcohol-free |
| 1:51.3 | in 2022 after acknowledging the impact drinking was having on her health and well-being. |
| 1:57.3 | Now she's written a book called Bad Drunk that documents that full experience |
| 2:02.0 | from the events that led to her decision through to the very tangible effects of her sober life she now leads. |
| 2:09.1 | This was such a cool chat because, I mean, sometimes we've had chats about alcohol before, |
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