EastEnders’ Charlie Brooks shares drastic pics after going sober saying booze left her with ‘regret, shame and fear’
The former soap actress also revealed her next journey following her road to sobriety
EASTENDERS star Charlie Brooks has shared snaps showing a drastic difference in appearance since ditching booze.
The soap actress, 44, has put her party days behind her as she acknowledged six years away from alcohol, declaring to fans that she’s got the ‘sober glow’.
Despite announcing her former love of drink, Charlie said she ditched the booze for good after a loop of ‘regret, shame and fear’ plagued her for years – and described it as the “best thing I’ve ever done”.
Acknowledging her journey to sobriety, Charlie shared an image of herself cracking open a can of Stella Artois and pouring it into a pint glass on her Instagram.
In the caption, she wrote: “Fags and booze. Oh my god. I used to LOVE them. My skin, body and mind… did not.
“Late nights. Smokers’ corner. Tequila rounds. New Zealand Marlborough Sauv Blanc. My absolute faves — until they weren’t.”
She admitted that aftermath from her booze-fuelled nights led to a cycle of “Empty bank. Regret. Shame. Fear”, despite having “some bloody good times”.
“That loop lasted a decade”, Charlie added, “Ten years of “never again” followed by… again.”
Charlie admitted in the caption that she “didn’t want to enter my 40s on the same merry-go-round”. as she recalled her decision to stop drinking completely.
She said that the change came “little by little”, and said her sobriety was a “work in progress”, but added that she’d got the “sober glow”.
Charlie continued: “I’m learning when to push, when to pause, and when to get out of the f***ing way and let life reveal itself.
“It’s work in progress. Always.
“And yes — the sober glow is a thing!”
The mum-of-one, who played Janine Butcher in the long-running BBC soap, added that she was on a skincare journey, posting snaps of herself receiving various facial and skin treatments.
The final image showed the star accompanied by her dog, with a much more noticeable glow, after cutting alcohol from her system and replacing it with a range of vitamins and supplements.
“I love not drinking”, she concluded, “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done [dancing emoji].”
Charlie stepped back from her role as Janine in BBC’s EastEnders after staying on the show on and off for more than two decades, between 1999 and 2022.
Her last scenes aired on Boxing Day in 2022, and saw her taken into police custody after she was implicated in a car crash that left Linda Carter injured.
Charlie’s controversial character was not k.i.l.l.e.d off from the show, which leaves room for a potential return in the future.
Since leaving the soap, the actress has joined competition shows including Dancing On Ice.
Charlie competed on this year’s series of the ITV ice-skating dance competition, partnered with Olympic medallist skating pro Eric Radford.
The pair managed to get quite deep into the competition, before Charlie became the sixth star to be booted off the show, after she ended up in a dance-off with Anton Ferdinand.
