Ulrika Jonsson has marked two years of sobriety, saying it is 'the best thing' that has ever happened to her.
The TV presenter, 58, who quit drinking in June 2024, reached out for help after admitting she would often 'black out' after binge-drinking alone.
But the mother-of-four has since turned her life around and now wants to 'squeeze every moment' out of life as she continues to relish her sobriety.
Taking to Instagram on Friday, Ulrika shared a snap of herself blowing a kiss at the camera and wrote: "Today I woke up two years sober.
"Giving up the drink was one thing. Achieving emotional sobriety was quite another. It has been singularly the best thing that has happened to me (sorry, kids).
"Awakening spiritually and learning that my way was not always the best, has been life-changing. It may have taken me nearly 59 years to get here but nothing that comes easy is worth having."
Dark moments
Ulrika expressed her thanks to the people who helped keep her sober and said she is happy to be free of the dark times in her life that were blighted by alcohol.
"My gratitude to those beautiful and screwed up people who have helped me stay sober, is endless," she wrote.
© Samir Hussein/WireImage"To go from believing I was not cut out for life to, now, wanting to squeeze every moment out of it is nothing short of a miracle.
"It’s been a journey and it continues to be. I don’t miss those dark moments and days burdened by drink.
"I can still be triggered by the thought; overwhelmed by the shame of those times but then I remember I was sick and I needed help. That help came but I had to do the work.
"I’m grateful. I’m changed. I have inner peace. And I’ve learnt boundaries. It’s a thing of beauty this new life."
Spiritual awakening
Ulrika recently appeared on the In Recovery Ark House podcast where she described going sober as being like a "spiritual awakening".
"I had a spiritual awakening - really it's just like I was waiting for this my whole life," she said.
"I felt safe after my first meeting. I felt like I belonged there after my first in-person meeting. There is so much in the programme that should be taught in schools. I pass on bits to my kids.
© Photo: Rex"It completely changed me. It has the ability to change you as a person and it felt like I was waiting for this my whole life. Life will throw stuff at me still but now I deal with it in a completely different way.
"I went from not wanting to live to now wanting to squeeze every moment out of my life. I missed having some kind of faith. The programme was spiritual for me."
Public and private
Ulrika also explained how her drinking only got very bad a couple of years before she went sober and she felt like she was living a battle between her private self and the public persona that her fans knew.
She said: "The public saw someone in control of their life and being fun. There was this battle between the public me and private me.
"My drinking only really got bad in the two years up to my sobriety. I used it as a mood alterer. It eased the bridge from public me to private me. It was fun in lockdown and I was a bit hedonistic.
"But then it pulled the rug from under me and I knew I shouldn't have been doing it. I was shocked how quickly it deteriorated. I never thought that would be me. I quite enjoyed the white lies as I got to create a different world that facilitated the drinking.
"Deep inside I was hoping the drink would take me. That's the only way I can articulate it. I was hoping that one day it would just be so bad that I wouldn't wake up."
