Jessica Simpson admits she ‘freaked out’ before turning 40

Jessica Simpson says she freaked out ahead of turning 40 this summer.

During a chat on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show this week the fashion designer opened up about her sobriety journey, after giving up alcohol in 2017, and how she’s transformed her life by working tirelessly on self-improvement.

‘I freaked out two months before I turned 40, not knowing that that age would even mean anything to me but then its like 41, 42….’ The mother-of-three said of turning 40 in July.

‘I’ve never calculated my age until now…. I am accepting it slowly’ she said with a laugh. 

On her birthday this year, Jessica marked turning the big 4-0 by fitting into a pair of True Religion jeans that she has owned for 14 years and snapped a mirror selfie to show they still fit.

‘That was a really random thing, because I haven’t put jeans on through the whole time, I’ve been in sweats. 

‘I just think I am such a person that reminisces, I hold on to so many memories, I am tragically romantic like that about my own self….. Thank god I put a memoir out at 40 because if not it would have been 800 pages if I waited any longer.’

Simpson also reflected on the response to her memoir Open Book, published in January, in which she discusses quitting drinking three years ago.

‘I did make a huge shift in my life…. I was at that point in my life where my kids were growing older and they were watching every move that I made. I just really wanted clarity. I wanted to understand myself cause I didn’t even realize how much I was drinking and how much I was suppressing. 

‘I thought it was making me brave, I thought it was making me confident and it was actually the complete opposite, it was silencing me…. It’s almost been three years which is crazy, I mean it’s pretty, its awesome. 

The star proudly revealed that she has not been tempted to drink during the pandemic and it’s been a huge help that husband Eric Johnson, 40, stopped drinking too. 

‘People are like “don’t you want to drink during this pandemic, oh my god aren’t your kids driving you crazy.” I’m like no, I do not want to drink like I have not wanted it, I feel like that’s a big blessing. Once I surrendered and gave it over I never looked back and my husband did it with me so that support was amazing.’ 

Through confronting her fears, seeking therapy and more recently journaling every morning, Simpson said she is feeling empowered to have come through the other side.

‘It just ended up coming to a surface. I knew a lot of it was coming up, coming up and I couldn’t suppress it any more. The alcohol was not numbing anything. It wasn’t numb anymore, I was just numb.

‘I couldn’t even understand stuff that was coming out of my mouth, it didn’t sound like me. So I really had to get back inside the person that I am. When you do that self-reflection its very empowering.

‘It takes a lot of courage. I can promise anyone on the other side of that fear, that courage is so beautiful and its one of the most rewarding things and decisions I have ever made in my life. And I never thought I would have to make that decision.’