The stars who have given up booze for good
As Dry July kicks off, sobriety is officially in style, with more and more big names joining the ranks of those who have given up alcohol for good.
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As Dry July kicks off, sobriety is officially in style, with more and more big names giving up drinking for good.
And it is not just health-conscious celebrities, turning teetotal is a fast-growing trend across the country: statistics show alcohol consumption has dropped to the lowest levels for decades, mainly thanks to young people.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the nation’s drinking has declined to the lowest levels since the 1960s. And the most recent report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare showed a significant increase in adolescents abstaining from alcohol — rising from 72 per cent in 2013 to 82 per cent in 2016.
Whether it’s down to increasing awareness about health, or the rise of social media meaning young people socialise in a different way, one thing’s certain, it’s never been easier to go dry for July… and beyond. Here are some famous names who have binned the booze.
Brad Pitt
Post his split with Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, 55, famously opened up to GQ Style about quitting alcohol. “I enjoy wine very, very much, but I just ran it to the ground. I had to step away for a minute. And truthfully, I could drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka. I was a professional. I was good. Don’t want to live that way anymore,” he said.
Elton John
The singer’s struggle with addiction is documented in the hit movie Rocketman, but Elton John, 72, says he is a survivor. He gave up alcohol 29 years ago and has not looked back. “I am a survivor,” he told Variety. “I’ve survived a lot of things. Life is full of pitfalls, even when you’re sober. I can deal with them now because I don’t have to run away and hide.”
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban
Keith Urban, 51, credits his Big Little Lies star wife with getting him sober 13 years ago and changing his life. “I wish I’d gotten sober many years earlier than I did, but it is what it is,” he told Rolling Stone. “I knew I wasn’t at my full potential. I was enslaved... I was living a very, very small life.” Kidman, 52, meanwhile has said she doesn’t drink and is “boring”.
Bradley Cooper
His role as alcohol and drug-addicted Jackson Maine in A Star is Born was close to home for Bradley Cooper, 44, who revealed to Barbara Walters he owes his career to getting sober 15 years ago. Ironically it was after that he got his break in The Hangover. “I never would be sitting here, no way, no chance,” he said.
Kristin Davis
The Sex And The City star confessed she started drinking young and didn’t think she would make it past 30. “I don’t think I would be alive. I’m an addict. I’m a recovering alcoholic. Acting is the only thing that made me want to ever get sober,” Kristin Davis, 54, said on a podcast.
David Campbell
The singer and presenter has been sober for five years – writing for News Corp that he decided his family’s drinking stops with him. “Was I an alcoholic? No. Did I have the propensity to become one? Yes. Very much so. There is addiction on both sides of my family and I was standing at the doorway of a very dark room. I quit alcohol and I have never been happier,” the 45-year-old wrote.
Robert Downey Jr.
His has been an incredible story of redemption, with Robert Downey Jr, 54, spending time in prison and rehab, battling his addictions, before getting sober and rebuilding his career. The Iron Man star told Vanity Fair, “It’s perfectly normal for people to be obsessive about something for a period of time, then leave it alone.”
Daniel Radcliffe
Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe admitted being a child star wasn’t always magic, and led to him drinking way too much – even while filming the movie franchise. “I went into work still drunk, but I never drank at work. I can point to many scenes where I’m just gone. Dead behind the eyes,” the 29-year-old told The Off Camera Show. He quit drinking after filming finished.
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez, 49, looks absolutely incredible, but the singer admits she is incredibly disciplined with her health regime – and drinking does not feature. “I don’t drink or smoke or have caffeine,” she told US Weekly. “That really wrecks your skin as you get older.”
Ewan McGregor
He launched his career as a junkie in Trainspotting and actor Ewan McGregor’s drinking was legendary – he was once so drunk he did his impression of Iggy Pop to Iggy Pop. The 48-year-old told The Independent he gave up alcohol in 2001. “I drank too much and it made me really unhappy, so I just thought, ‘I won’t drink and then I can be happy’.”
Samuel L. Jackson
The 70-year-old actor has worked solidly, but struggled with drink and drugs in the ’70s and ’80s. “It was the life. I was in the theatre, the revolution. I fancied myself as Oliver Reed,” he told the UK’s Telegraph. “Part of it is hereditary: My father died of alcoholism.” After his family sent him to rehab, he remained sober – and ironically came out to play a crack addict in Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever.
* For more information on Dry July, visit dryjuly.com
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