Home and Away star Emily Weir recalls 'hitting rock bottom' with her alcohol dependency

June 13, 2023

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After years of dealing with alcoholism, Emily Weir claims that her recent appearance on Dancing With The Stars “saved” her.

The dramatic dance sequences on the Channel Seven programme, according to the 32-year-old Home and Away actress, were a healing experience.

According to her comments to TV Week, “It was incredibly special because basically the dance was a story about losing hope and a reflection of our personal journeys.”

Emily used alcohol as a coping strategy for the sorrow of her parents’ divorce while she was in her early 20s, but she was successful in quitting before she was cast in Home and Away in 2019.

“I was clean and sober before I appeared on the show, but my difficulties didn’t end there.” Those monsters developed because I didn’t work on myself enough, she claimed.

Fortunately, Emily joined AA and was able to get help. She also claimed that her appearance on the forthcoming season of DWTS offered her an added confidence boost.

“I’ve learned to set boundaries and be kinder to myself over the last five years.” I’m thankful to be a part of Home and Away, and participating in DWTS is one of my all-time favourite experiences, she said.

Even after being sober for five years, Emily said in December that she still struggles to stay sober over the holiday season.

Even though she is “proud” of what she has accomplished, she claimed that Christmas still involves some amount of exclusion for her because she is unable to have fun like those around her.

There are several gatherings and social events. She told The Daily Telegraph, “I guess I do feel something, not the pull or need to drink, which has happily subsided for me, but how will I disperse my energy and how long do I want to remain at that party until people get to the point where you can kind of be excluded.

“The truth is, I still occasionally feel excluded—not because people intentionally exclude me, but rather because I am not on their level.”

“So I have to leave early and sometimes I feel sad because I wish I didn’t have this problem, but then I would much rather be healthy and sane than the opposite because if you don’t keep in front of it, for me to drink again would mean some serious issues,” the speaker said.

The soap actor, who plays restaurant owner Mackenzie Booth on Home and Away, continued by stating that it is “normal” for a sober person to feel conflicted about being “proud” while secretly wishing they weren’t.

She justified her decision to forgo socialising in favour of her sobriety by saying that the “price is far too high” to gamble.

Sunday, June 18 marks the debut of Dancing With The Stars on Channel Seven.