Michelle Heaton broke down in tears on Thursday’s episode of Loose Women as she read out a letter her husband Hugh Hanley wrote to her while she was in rehab.
After being sober for thirteen months, the singer has openedly shared her struggle with drug and alcohol addiction and has read the letter to the audience.
Hugh wrote an emotional note to Hugh, saying: “Watching you spiral as this has been extremely difficult to deal with. I couldn’t talk to my best friend. Although I was embarrassed at times by you, it wasn’t you.
Michelle Heaton cried on Loose Women as she read a letter Hugh Hanley’s to her about her rehab.
Hugh – who has been married to Michelle for 13 years – went on to detail how the singer’s actions were impacting their daughter Faith, 10, and son AJ, seven, adding: ‘I have also tried to help the kids forget your behaviour. This has made you a fool…
‘Your addictive behaviour has hurt me a lot ‘Chelle, and you’ve become someone who’s very untrustworthy. Your behavior has taken me from my wife, and also the children of their mommy.
Sobbing as she reflected on her battle with drink and drugs, Michelle said: ‘I don’t recognise that person. I’m a strong individual. I’m a strong person who can refuse to do anything.
Rock Bottom: Liberty X’s 42-year-old singer has acknowledged that she had ‘given it up’ and sought treatment in rehab last year. (Photographed April 20, 2021).
“Drinking was exhausting,” she continued. This consumed my everywaking moment. I’ve got a really happy sense of being now – and I just didn’t.
“I didn’t know what was going on with my family. It’s shameful to say that sometimes they were in my way.
‘When the kids really needed a cuddle, I just wasn’t there for them… It wasn’t until I got sober, clean, that I could recognise how I was behaving. The guilt follows.
Family: Michelle’s husband Hugh went on to detail how Michelle’s actions were impacting their children daughter Faith, 10, and son AJ, seven (pictured last month)
She continued: ‘I wasn’t present for anybody – I wasn’t present for myself. I didn’t give them what they needed, which was nurturing… no nurturing at all.
‘When I came out and I started to navigate who I was again, so were the kids… They had to navigate who I was again.
‘Kids are very forgiving, they didn’t acknowledge how much I was in pain… however, they were navigating my reactions.’
Distressing: Sobbing as she reflected on her battle with drink and drugs, Michelle said, ‘I don’t recognise that person. Strong person. I am a strong person who can refuse to do anything.
Support: Michelle was comforted by Jane Moore who reached out to give her a cuddle
Talking about happier times, she added: ‘If someone told me nine months ago that I would be feeling free, happy… It’s still one day at a time.
“I was referred to the Priory by my doctor and they gave me a 28-day addiction treatment. I had been a wet drunk for several months. I was irritable and snappy, acting out in many different ways. I was manipulative.
“Now, I sponsor people. I am a sponsor. My recovery is very hard.
Michelle stated that Michelle did not drink alcohol during the three-year period prior to her admission into rehabilitation in April 2021.
Following her mastectomy and hysterectomy in 2014 she indulged in wine, vodka and brandy for years. This was because her BRCA2 gene carriers meant that she had a higher risk of developing breast cancer.
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Happy: Michelle said that she has worked hard on her relationship with husband Hugh, explaining: ‘I’m completely honest with Hugh now and he feels like he’s got his wife back’