TV presenter Simon Thomas has celebrated one year of sobriety, crediting the decision to give up alcohol as the best he’s ever made. The former Blue Peter and Sky Sports host, who is also the president of Blood Cancer UK, took to Instagram to discuss his struggles with alcoholism.
Thomas explained that he began drinking as a way of coping with fame, and that his drinking “took a dark turn” following the sudden death of his first wife from cancer in 2017. He said: “I was plunged into a world of fear, pain and darkness…I could sit in the pain no longer and I turned to the booze. It became an expression of me. It was all or nothing. I had no off switch. This wasn’t something I was proud of, and as a Christian I felt ashamed. As the years went on, alcohol became my social mask. I wasn’t comfortable in my own skin. The answer – drink.”
In the Instagram post, Thomas credits Christian Vision for Men President Carl Beech with encouraging him to try sobriety, and says that the key to his success was wanting to do it for himself, not for others.
The father of two, who remarried in 2021, said he hoped his story would encourage others who may be struggling with addiction.
