I Went to an Alcohol Support Group & Told Them I Was Drinking a Bottle of Wine a Night — They Laughed & Said ‘You Don’t Have a Problem

Episode 52 | Alicia Butler — 173 Days Sober, a Viral Day One & Why ‘You Don’t Have a Problem’ Are the Most Dangerous Words in Recovery

In this warm, funny and deeply honest episode, Jimmy sits down with Alicia Butler — the woman whose raw, tearful Day One Instagram video went viral and has been inspiring people to get sober ever since — for a conversation about grey area drinking, gym culture, champagne budgets and the slow creep of something that nearly cost her everything.

Alicia grew up in Darlington, County Durham — a good childhood, loving family, no obvious trauma. Her uncle was an alcoholic, and she wonders now about addictive genetics, but at the time she just thought she liked champagne. What began as an after-work culture in London — where even people who lived an hour away never went home, they just stayed in the pub — slowly became a bottle of wine a night at home. Then two bottles. Then champagne instead, because she preferred it. Then Aldi started selling Prosecco for £9.99 a bottle, and that was that.

The creeping nature of Alicia’s drinking is what makes her story so relatable. She was still going to the gym. Still working. Still functioning. Her nutritionist kept telling her to cut down on alcohol and she kept refusing — so instead she worked out a calorie budget that excluded food so she could keep her bottle of wine a night. She’d hide bottles in the boot of her car at parties so nobody else could drink them. She’d sometimes finish the last inch of last night’s bottle in the morning. And still, somewhere in her head, she didn’t think she had a problem.

Then she went to an alcohol support group. She told them she was drinking a bottle of wine a night, sometimes two. They laughed. “That’s nothing,” they said. “You don’t have a problem.” She walked out thinking she had a green light.

The piece of paper she found during a clear-out said it all: written in 2017, it was a mood board with a list of goals, and at the top: Avoid booze. She’d known for seven years. Her mum had asked her to stop drinking on her deathbed fourteen years ago. She still couldn’t manage two days.

The suicidal episodes — leaving the house with a knife, lying by the canal, smashing a picture frame over her husband’s head — she hadn’t connected to the alcohol. It was just her emotions. Just her anxiety. Just a bad night. Until she did.

What finally worked was Instagram. Day One. She sat in her bedroom, pressed record, cried, and uploaded it. It went viral. Suddenly there were thousands of people saying me too. She couldn’t go back — not just because she didn’t want to, but because she’d told everyone, and the accountability was the lock on the door.

Now approaching 200 days sober, Alicia is a different person: sleeping well, managing stress, driving herself home from parties at midnight with a cup of tea in mind, and posting every day for the people who are still on Day One wondering if it’s worth it.

Find Alicia on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/champagnetochange

David Nutt - Drink:

https://amzn.to/3PMPfEi

Louisa Evans - Becoming A Sober Rebel:

https://amzn.to/4wYkDAd

My Instagram is:

https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy

And you can find all my other links at:

https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle

Buy me a coffee…

https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt

Alcohol Explained - William Porter

https://a.co/d/0854fIb6

This Naked Mind - Annie Grace

https://a.co/d/0gy6mT9Z

A Million Little Pieces - James Frey

https://a.co/d/0jdcIjGb

Donate:

https://motiv8.im/donate/

https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/

My Instagram is:

https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy

And you can find all my other links at:

https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle

Buy me a coffee…

https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt

Alcohol Explained - William Porter

https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB

This Naked Mind - Annie Grace

https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z

A Million Little Pieces - James Frey

https://amzn.to/44jOV3i

Donate:

https://motiv8.im/donate/

https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.