Yumi Stynes - Replacing Booze With Real Connection
Sober Awkward
Victoria Vanstone
4.8 • 533 Ratings
🗓️ 20 July 2025
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week on the podcast, Hame is joined by broadcaster, author, mum, podcaster, and all-round Aussie icon — Yumi Stynes.
Now nine years sober, Yumi shares the full arc of her relationship with alcohol: from growing up in Swan Hill and nervously sipping booze as a teen, to navigating grief after the loss of her dad, and working in the booze-fuelled world of music television during her time at Channel V.
We also touch on post-natal depression, shame as an unexpected motivator, the myth of “cool”, and some frankly hilarious (and horrifying) stories from the wild days of drinking. Oh, and yes, that kiss with Robbie Williams that changed the course of her life and career!
Yumi’s honesty and insight shine throughout this conversation, and she reminds us that the best drugs of all are free, legal, and available daily, and no, we’re not talking about pills, powders or pints.
Her decades-long career in the public eye has grown and evolved alongside her sobriety, and she credits her current creative energy to leaving alcohol behind.
Yumi is a dream guest, raw, wise, funny, and we hope you get as much from this episode as we did.
🎧 Show Notes
For more information on Clean Slate just head to www.cleanslateclinic.com
💛 Resources & Links
📸 Yumi's Instagram: @yumichild
📚 Her books are available here: https://www.amazon.com.au/Books-Yumi-Stynes/s?rh=n%3A4851626051%2Cp_27%3AYumi%2BStynes
🎤 Listen to her podcast 'Ladies, We Need to Talk'
😘 Watch THAT kiss with Robbie Williams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYXgeozYRX0
📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays
A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.
🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes
🫖 Join The Cuppa Community
Our private, supportive online space for sober folk
📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide
Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.
📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:
Instagram: @soberawkward
TikTok: @soberawkward
Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women
🚨 Helplines & Support
🇦🇺 Australia
– Alcohol & Drug Foundation (ADF) – 1300 85 85 84
– Lifeline – 13 11 14 (24/7 crisis support)
– Hello Sunday Morning / Daybreak App – hellosundaymorning.org
🇬🇧 UK
– Drinkline (NHS) – 0300 123 1110
– Alcoholics Anonymous UK – www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I'm Yumi Steins and this is the Sober Awkward podcast. |
| 0:05.5 | The cattle's boiled, Vic. |
| 0:07.6 | Great, perfect timing. Just a dash of milk for me, please, mate. |
| 0:13.3 | Here you go. Should we get started then? |
| 0:24.8 | Have you ever woken up on a Sunday morning and said, I'm never drinking again, |
| 0:28.3 | and then found yourself waving 50 bucks at a barman by happy hour? |
| 0:31.3 | Are you wondering why everyone else can stop at one, |
| 0:34.9 | while you head to a dodgy after party with a weird bloke called Disco Dave? |
| 0:38.3 | If so, it might be time to take a deeper look at your relationship with your reliable social crutch, alcohol. On each episode, we'll investigate our |
| 0:44.2 | own dysfunctional dealings with booze and find out if it's possible to stop this deeply ingrained |
| 0:48.8 | habit before things get too messy. Yep, we're going to open up a shame shed of humiliating |
| 0:54.1 | drinking stories to help you understand why |
| 0:56.5 | waking up from a booze coma each weekend with a kebab sticking out of your top pocket |
| 1:00.1 | might actually be negatively impacting your health. |
| 1:03.7 | Hamish and I are here to delve into what it's like being sober. |
| 1:07.5 | An unwanted warts and all look into why giving up those cheeky pints or putting down |
| 1:12.0 | those mummy wines will make you feel happier, help your anxiety and mental health, and turn you |
| 1:17.6 | into the most sparkly authentic version of you. Won't that mean I become boring though, Vic? Well, |
| 1:22.5 | Hamish, we'll just have to wait and see. I'm Victoria Vanstone. I'm Hamish Adams Cairns. And this is sober awkward. |
| 1:34.4 | For our Australian listeners in particular, today's guest needs no introduction. |
| 1:39.1 | Yumi Steins is a broadcaster, an author, a podcaster and a mum of four. She's known for being a brave and bold |
| 1:45.8 | voice on feminism, justice, and other topics that too many are just afraid to shine a light on. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Victoria Vanstone, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Victoria Vanstone and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.