Lulu has a 'healthy fear of relapse' in alcohol battle
Pop veteran Lulu has a "healthy fear of relapse" in her battle with alcoholism admitting it "would be the end of me" if she started drinking again.
Lulu has a "healthy fear of relapse" in her battle with alcoholism admitting it "would be the end" of her if she started drinking again.
The 76-year-old pop veteran recently opened up about her struggle with booze for the first time revealing she's been clean since checking into a rehab clinic in 2013 and she's now confessed she lives with a constant worry about falling off the wagon.
During an appearance on n Matt Willis' On The Mend podcast, Lulu explained: "I have a healthy fear of relapse, but I don't go around thinking, oooh oooh. I think I have an understanding that it could happen.
"Many times when I'm with people who are drinking really good wine, which you develop a taste for - the good things in life - I don't know that I've had many experiences where I thought, I wish that was me.
"But I've had a couple of times when I thought: 'This is so delicious, this food, I would love that white wine with this'. But I know where I go when I have that. And the price I would have to pay - it's like cutting off your arm ... I would just collapse. It would be the end of me."
Lulu was open about her issues in her memoir If Only You Knew and she has revealed sought professional help during the writing process because reflecting on her struggles had a massive impact on her mental health.
She explained: "I need to go back into therapy, seriously. I did it for the book. The book threw me back into therapy, it traumatised me so much."
Lulu previously opened up about her alcoholism in an interview on UK TV show This Morning, revealing she hid her torment from her family for years.
She said: "It was never bad because I was never a fall-down drunk. My son didn't know. He said: 'Wait a minute, Mum, are you sure ... ?' and Elton [John] said: 'How the f*** did I miss that?'"
Lulu went on to say: "I was very secretive, I was so ashamed of it. I would go out and have a drink, a couple of drinks.
"I would go home, and have another drink. You know you're an alcoholic if you can't stop. I have a lot of friends who have a drink and say: 'Oh I've had enough,' but I couldn't do that ...
"I was a highly-functioning alcoholic, that's why nobody knew. I would fall asleep sozzled. I'd set the alarm, wake up for work the next day, brush myself off and go to work."
