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Susannah Constantine recalls moment that forced her to seek help for alcoholism

Susannah Constantine has opened up about the “humiliating” experience that made her ask her family for support with her alcoholism.

The former What Not To Wear host, 60, has previously spoken about her issues with drinking and revealed in 2020 that she had been in recovery for a number of years.

Speaking to Christine Lampard on Thursday’s episode of Lorraine, Constantine recalled the moment she admitted that alcohol has started to take over her life.

The Damned United Premiere – London
Susannah Constantine (Ian West/PA)

She said: “Anyone who is suffering from alcoholism will identify with this – it had been building up to the point where I didn’t have control over alcohol, it had control over me.

“And we were in Cornwall and I wasn’t drinking much more than anyone else, but I think when you drink consistently and daily, your body becomes like a saturated sponge and it doesn’t take much to tip you over the edge.

“So I blacked out, I fell over, I broke two transverse processes in my back and I wet myself, and you can’t get anything more humiliating than that.

“And my children witnessed this and my husband and brother-in-law took me up to bed.

Trinny and Susannah unveil Autumn/Winter 09 collection for Littlewoods – London
Susannah Constantine with Trinny Woodall (Zak Hussein/PA)

“I don’t know how I had the courage, but the next day I just got everyone round the table and I said, ‘Look, I need help. I’ve been lying to you, I keep saying I’m not drinking, I’m drinking far more than any of you know and I need to do something about it’.

“And then I asked them all, ‘How has this made you feel?’ And they all told me, and I knew that was the point I had to stop and had to start regaining the trust of my family, because I’d been lying.”

The fashion adviser rose to fame alongside Trinny Woodall with their style series What Not to Wear, and they went on to co-host Trinny & Susannah Undress and Undress The Nation.

Constantine also discussed her childhood and her relationship with the late Princess Margaret on Lorraine, which she discusses in her new book.

Lorraine airs on ITV on weekdays from 9am.