Michelle Heaton had 'couple of days to live' amid alcohol addiction

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Michelle Heaton has opened up about the worst days of her alcohol addiction, saying she was told she had a ‘couple of days’ to live.

The Liberty X singer has been open about her experience in rehab, attending The Priory earlier this year to get better.

Now 100 days clean and sober, the star admitted: ‘It’s the hardest step to admit you have a problem.’

‘Three months ago I was on death’s door, I had been given a couple of days [to live]. That’s the reality of my story,’ Michelle recalled on Loose Women.

‘I was so ill, I had lost so much weight. My skin was translucent, my belly was very swollen and very hard. I was sick to drink more. I made myself sick to drink more. I’d be happy when I was sick so I could drink more. It got so out of control that it controlled everything I did.’

Asked what the extent of her addiction was, Michelle explained that, in the past year and a half before she went to rehab, she had never had a day off alcohol.

‘Even last year in September, I got brought into hospital with my pancreas failing,’ she recalled. ‘I was in a lot of pain, and even then I couldn’t stop.’

The 42-year-old pointed out that the severity of the disease meant that even when she was told she would die if she continued drinking, she couldn’t stop.

In terms of the impact it had on her body, Michelle revealed that she’s got scars from scratching her arms as her liver failure made her so itchy, and her natural hair is incredibly short and may not grow again.

She added that, thankfully, the liver is able to repair but she’s under ‘no illusions’ about what would happen if she had another drink.

‘One drink, it would take me right back,’ she said.

Michelle has been recovering since her stint in The Priory, and has even been able to focus on music again, going on tour with the Liberty X girls again.

This year marked her first ever sober gig, with the star never realising that she could have just as much ‘gusto’ onstage without drink and drugs.

‘It was the girls around me, it was being onstage,’ she pointed out.

Michelle’s husband Hugh Hanley previously opened up about how the star’s addiction has impacted her.

Hugh told OK!: ‘She was told in September 2020, with her liver the way it was, she was going to die if she did nothing about it.’

He explained: ‘Four days before going to the Priory she also had a very bad fit in bed at 2am. She wouldn’t stop shaking and her mouth was drooling.

‘That was scary and it really spooked her. Her skin was also changing colour and she hadn’t eaten for days. Things had got so bad there was no way out.’

Michelle, who is mother to Faith, nine, and seven-year-old AJ, credits her friends and family for pushing her in the right direction to get help after they staged an intervention.

Loose Women airs weekdays at 12:30pm on ITV.

MORE : Liberty X star Michelle Heaton warned alcohol addiction would be fatal if she didn’t seek help

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