CELEBRITY SOBRIETY –
Dec. 18, 2025 – by Mary-Kate Harrington – I don’t remember my first drink as anything profound. It was a shot of schnapps on a ski holiday when I was 12, and it tasted like a bad decision, nothing less, nothing more.
Alcohol ambivalence is rare, and most drinkers have to be careful; it’s a substance designed for consumption above all else. Alcohol doesn’t respect boundaries … I never drank with commitments in mind.
I think I knew very early on that once the bottle was uncorked, I couldn’t contain it. Alcohol was the driver, and I was the passenger, with no safety belt available. “If I controlled my drinking, I never enjoyed it, if I enjoyed my drinking, I never controlled it,” is a phrase I’ve heard among ex-problem drinkers, though I can’t relate.
I could never really control my drinking. By 22, the cracks between my peers’ juvenile weekend excesses and my own drinking began to show, though nothing yet caused grave concern.
Morning drinking changed that. Choose a car, choose a career, choose to be a functioning adult – none of it feels remotely desirable the moment you swap morning remorse, a mug of coffee and a commute for a cup of Pinot Grigio while listening to Johnny Cash at 7am.
