Michelle Heaton marks six-months of sobriety with poignant new tattoo

Michelle Heaton has celebrated reaching six months of sobriety with a new tattoo.
The reality star and Liberty X singer was taken into rehab for alcohol addiction earlier this year after she was told she was days away from death.
Thankfully, after more than three years of drinking every day, Heaton is now on the mend and has been keeping fans updated with her recovery.
Read more: Michelle Heaton returns to stage with Liberty X after overcoming alcohol addiction
Now she’s hit a key landmark in her sobriety and has marked the occasion with new body art.
Sharing a photograph of her new ink on Instagram, Heaton took a photograph of herself in the tattoo artist’s chair, as well as the final product: a feather with the first line of the Serenity prayer.
She wrote alongside it: “‘God grant me the serenity…. Today I got this tattoo by the legend Lal at [New Wave Tattoo] who has done the most amazing art work on my body in the past.
“It’s a celebration to myself that in a week I am six months clean and sober - and completing my [12 steps].”
“It’s not been easy, I’ve found myself in every day pain and struggles, but that’s life. And today I don’t drink or use on those things. I now accept the [serenity prayer] and I now have a life beyond my wildest dreams,” she said.
“The feather represents life. The first day a feather fell to my feet as I walked into the priory. I picked it up I kept it and I have it now on my wall .. I see strength hope and faith at it when all I saw was weakness fear and doubt.”
“Don’t have a good day guys.. have a great day!,” Heaton concluded. “[Love] others is a solution .. first step and biggest step is admitting you have a problem and asking for help!”
Over the past six months, Heaton has completed a recovery programme at The Priory and has continued to share intimate photos of the highs and lows of her addiction.
This included a shocking photograph of what she considered was ‘her lowest moment’ - with bloodshot eyes, puffy face and discoloured skin.
Read more: Michelle Heaton apologises for being too scared to visit Nikki Grahame in her final days
During a chat on Loose Women in August, Heaton revealed she had been secretly drinking every day for three years, checking herself into a rehab clinic after finding herself ‘on death’s door’.
“Sometimes it's difficult to say you have an addiction because at times it feels fun, that's the reality of it, [alcohol] was my friend in need,” she explained at the time. “Any feeling, sad, happy, the sun's shining, a party - any excuse.
“It got a hold of me really badly about a year and a half ago. My husband [Hugh Hanley] and friends tried an intervention to get me to rehab.”
Heaton – who appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2009 – is now enjoying being more present as a mother to her two children Faith, nine, and AJ, seven, who she shares with her Irish businessman husband of 11 years, Hugh Hanley.
She credits Hanley as ‘her rock’ for getting her through her treatment.
Watch: Michelle Heaton opens up about alcohol addiction