Spencer Matthews has opened up about his unhealthy relationship as he celebrates two years sober.
The Made in Chelsea star, 31, decided to kick the booze habit the week after his wedding to Irish TV personality Vogue Williams in June 2018.
He has since founded the company Clean Liquor which sells low-alcohol alternatives to cocktails.
Honest: Spencer Matthews has opened up on his battle with alcohol, saying his two years sober have been the best of his life
In an Instagram post on Monday promoting his brand, the reality star said: ‘Two years today since I’ve been drunk. Best two years of my life without question.
‘Comparing myself now to then is simply laughable – different people.
‘But in defence of the unproductive, truculent, attention-seeking alcoholic, there were absolutely no alternatives to regular strength alcohol back then.
‘My social life suffered when I wasn’t drinking. It was normal to drink regularly and it became my ball and chain, preventing me from achieving great things.’
Inspiration: The Made in Chelsea star founded the company Clean Liquor to provide low-alcohol alternatives
The TV personality, whose wife Vogue is pregnant with their second child, said his journey inspired him and his team to create alternatives to high-alcohol drinks.
He continued: ‘Now, times are changing and many people have less of an appetite for full strength alcohol in their busy lives and as such my team and I have created Clean Liquor – the most authentic way of being able to stay social, be part of the party and to be switched-on and on top of your game at all times. No missing out.’
‘With only 1.2% abv, you’re 98.8% more likely to achieve your goals.’
Old times: He admits the decision to give up was made for him due to his inability to control his own impulses around booze.
Spencer has been open about his battle with alcohol, telling The Times last year: ‘My relationship with alcohol became unsustainable. For people who are going to ask, “Were you an alcoholic?” I suppose the short answer is “Yes.”
Admitting that alcohol ‘disturbed his thought process’, he added: ‘I would never wake up the following the day feeling like I should be in a body bag, but my functionality, my decision-making, my creativity would be impaired.
‘I would be all on or all off. I’d give up for three months and feel incredible. But for some reason I’d always go back to it.
‘My relationship with alcohol was destructive’: Spencer previously discussed his decision to become sober before becoming a dad
‘Moderation was impossible for me. People close to me wouldn’t have thought that I had a drinking problem because it wasn’t evident although towards the very end of my drinking perhaps it became a little bit more of an issue.’
The former Made In Chelsea star previously admitted that becoming a father to son Theodore, 21 months, made him reassess his priorities and says ‘my wife and son are my world.’
Taking to Instagram in November, Spencer said: ‘Sobriety is a lifestyle choice I made a few months before becoming a dad.
He said: ‘In the back of my mind, I had always felt that my relationship with alcohol, although seemingly harmless was unhealthy and somewhat destructive’ (pictured in 2014)
‘In the back of my mind for many years, I had always felt that my relationship with alcohol, although seemingly harmless was unhealthy and somewhat destructive.
‘Drinking lead me to make poor decisions and achieving my full potential was slipping away.
‘I had abstained from alcohol for lengthy periods at a time but in doing so had made drinking at the end of that period a reward – a pat on the back for my achievement. It was a vicious cycle…’
Spencer said that becoming a dad meant he had to change his ways.
He said: ‘I had to change my relationship with alcohol in order to become the man that I knew I could be and that my family would be proud of. Sobriety has opened my mind and unlocked parts of me that I didn’t even realise existed.
‘I am more ambitious and hard working now than I have ever been and there has been a serious shift in my priorities and what’s important to me.
‘My wife and son are my world and being there for them in every way possible is the only thing that matters to me… that and my work…
‘Over the last year and a half I have learnt an awful lot about the low and no alcohol sector and what it has to offer and have developed a business to compete in that sector at the highest level.
‘If you are sober curious, we are for you. I’m incredibly proud to invite you to follow and join us in discovering a different way to drink. Cheers to that!’
Love of their life: Spencer and Vogue are parents to son Theodore, 21 months