Pretty Little Liars Actress Lucy Hale Opens Up About Her Journey to Sobriety
When we look at Lucy Hale today—pretty, young, and talented—it’s hard to believe that the 35-year-old was an alcoholic for many years. In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE published on September 12, the brunette actress shared what her long journey to sobriety was like.
“When I got sober, my intention was never to be the poster child of sobriety,” Hale confessed. “But when I began speaking about it, it came from a place of needing to heal and take my power back.”
The actress said she felt validated by the public’s response to her struggles and recovery. That emotion was validated when she visited the women’s addiction center, Friendly House LA. “When women are together healing and growing, it’s just …. it’s palpable. It’s just the best feeling to witness women blossoming and overcoming the impossible,” she remarked.
After struggling with addiction during her 20s, the multi-awarded performer has earned Friendly House LA’s 2024 Humanitarian Award. Hale told the publication that it’s changed the way she perceives her struggles. “I can’t believe I’m at a place in my life where I can talk about the things that used to bring me so much shame,” she admitted.
Describing how helpless she felt against alcoholism, Hale narrated, “I always had a desire to change, but with any form of addiction, you become powerless to this obsession. I definitely had to go through my own process of getting sober.”
She continued, “It took many, many, many years, many relapses, many dark moments, many falling on my face quite literally, but figuratively as well to figure out what was working in my life, finding out why I was drinking, because removing alcohol is just one part of it.”
Hale revealed that she was battling her addiction while filming the hit TV series Pretty Little Liars. She referred to it as her North Star, adding that it gave her motivation to continue.
“If I’m perfectly honest, without my career and without that creative outlet, I don’t know if I would’ve made it,” the American Juniors reality show star reflected. “I think that show and my love of what I do was my North Star truly, it really gave me purpose, and still gives me purpose. But I was constantly in this cycle of extreme depression and anxiety while having to show up to work and be on. And that ‘being on’ fueled even more drinking… I was caught in this cycle that I couldn’t get out of.
Sober for 2.5 years, Hale says that her mission now is to learn to love herself. “I love that I am just showing up as myself and not having to paint a pretty picture of what people expect me to be or expect me to say,” she shared. “It just felt like the right time to finally show up as me because that’s all I’ve ever really wanted. It’s been a crazy journey, but I’m very grateful.”
