Chrissy Teigen, 40, opened up about her recent drinking relapse in an emotional Instagram post, untangling her complicated journey back to sobriety.
The two-time Sports Illustrated cover model posted on Instagram that, while she is now “52 days sober again with no desire to turn back,” reaching this milestone required significant effort and stress.
“After being sober for a little over a year, I went back to drinking,” her caption says.
“I promised myself it would be in a’mindful’ way,” wrote Teigen, who gained a large social media following for her outspoken humor and open images of her daily life. “I wanted to be able to have a glass of wine on a date night with my husband.”
Teigen married EGOT-winning musician John Legend (47) in 2013. The couple has four children: girls Luna, 9, and Esti, 3, and sons Miles, 7, and Wren, 2.
Teigen’s caption added, “To be able to toast birthdays.” How fortunate I am to have the life I have—I intend to enjoy it! And I believe that was my first difficulty. Drinking for a reward or as a life award.”
The model’s approach to drinking quickly shifted from joyous to unsustainable.
“Soon it became the kind of drinking I’m all too familiar with,” she had written. “At home, quiet periods were reserved for wine. The time changed from 6 p.m. to 5, 4, and aw heck, it’s lunch, why not. When it arrived to 11 a.m., I thought, “Oh f—, here we go again.”
“And I understand. “I’m a whole a– mom,” she explained. “We’re not talking about the type of drinking that causes you to slur your words and fall down the stairs. It was simply quiet and constant. And, god, I felt like s–t…But it wasn’t messy enough to quit.”
Teigen posed with Carl Radke of Summerhouse fame and thanked him for sharing his sober story on her podcast, Self-Conscious with Chrissy Teigen.
I’m grateful to @carlradke,” she added, later adding, “Within a week of speaking with Carl, I quit drinking again.” One of the screenshots in her article has a phrase from Radke’s podcast interview.
“I would recommend the 12 steps for anybody, regardless if you’re struggling with alcohol,” he said, referring to the well-known 12-step recovery program that began with Alcoholics Anonymous but has subsequently been adopted by many other programs. “There’s just a good moral fabric that any human can benefit from.”
Radke will be a guest on a forthcoming edition of Obsessed: The Podcast, where he will discuss his talk with Teigen and other topics, so be sure to subscribe.
Teigen has been sober before, as she stated in her caption.
“I believe the most significant difference between now and the first time is that there is no pomp surrounding it. “The first time I put my foot down, it was EXCITING,” said Teigen, who announced her first attempt at sobriety on Instagram five years ago with a video of herself dancing.
She added, “The second time…I’m not sure if everyone around you loses faith, if you do, or a combination of the two. Perhaps no one wants to get too enthused.
