I've beaten myself up over this, says sober and sorry groper Chris Smith

A NOW sober Chris Smith is ready to face his listeners. Smith, who was close to losing his family after his drunken Christmas party antics, returns to air tomorrow.

2GB's Chris Smith / Adam Ward

A NOW sober 2GB announcer, Chris Smith, is ready to face his listeners.

Smith, who was close to losing his family and lucrative talkback job after his drunken Christmas party antics, returns to air tomorrow afternoon.

Labelling the last eight weeks as "hell", the 45-year-old father-of-two vowed not to be "defined" by his alcohol-fuelled inappropriate antics.

"I can't tell you how much I've beaten myself up over this. But you've got to come out the other end. There will be people who define me by this and they have every right to that and I respect that.

"But I will be defined by 25 years of covering stories and years helping charities and writing books and I will focus on that, the things that I'm proud of. I won't be defined by 30 minutes," Smith said.

In December, Smith confessed to inappropriately fondling several women at the 2GB-owner Macquarie Radio Network Christmas Party. He was stood down and became estranged from his family.

He has since reconciled with his wife Ali and thanked her for her support.

"She has been an incredible rock for me," Smith said. "She would agree that we are as strong now as we have ever been. We just had an anniversary a couple of days ago and it was as good as any we've had.

"I also had some incredible support through listeners and friends. You really learn and appreciate who your friends are through these kinds of periods."

Previously, Smith has acknowledged that he was an alcoholic and that he also suffered bipolar disorder.

He said he is now sober.

"I can never go back to that point. I've made some significant changes to my life. I think to a certain degree you have to hit ground zero before you do that. Alcohol isn't part of my life now and that's a good thing. I had to do that anyway, irrespective of what happened, I'd reached that point and needed that smack in the pants for that to happen."

Smith expected support and criticism from listeners.

"Whether they want to welcome me back or whether they want to give me an uppercut, I'm ready to take it on the chin and to move forward."