Carrie Fisher's brother says they would have lost her sooner if she hadn't been a mum

Carrie Fisher’s brother has said he thinks they would have lost her sooner if she hadn’t become a mum.

The Star Wars actor – who battled drug and alcohol problems during her life - died in 2016 aged 60, days after falling ill on a flight from London to Los Angeles.

The Princess Leia star was mum to actress Billie Lourd with talent agent Bryan Lourd, and her brother Todd Fisher has now said he thinks motherhood saved her from an early death.

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He told Page Six: “When Carrie became a mother it grounded her very differently. Looking at Carrie, ‘she’s going to be a mother, holy mackerel what is that going to be?’

“But what really happened ... obviously Carrie was a unique mother, it’s what kept Carrie with us.

“I think we would have lost Carrie long ago, long before if it hadn’t been for Billie.”

Fisher died on December 27, 2016 and a post-mortem later concluded that she had traces of cocaine, heroin and MDMA in her system when she died.

Lourd, 28, has followed in her mum’s footsteps and is an actor herself, with roles in shows such as Scream Queens and American Horror Story.

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She also stepped into her mother’s shoes for a crucial flashback scene in the movie Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker.

Fisher died before the film was completed so Lourd doubled for a younger incarnation of General Leia for a scene in which she is shown undergoing Jedi training.

Watch: Billie Lourd is a new mum