Chrissy Teigen opens up on 'first problem' she noticed as she quits drinking again
The mother-of-four discussed her sobriety journey with her Instagram followers
American model Chrissy Teigen, 40, has dabbled with sobriety in the past, and recently admitted she’d made it to 52 days without alcohol, and that she had ‘no desire to turn back’.
In a new Instagram post, the mother-of-four praised her friend, Summer House’s Carl Radke, 41, for being ‘honest and open’ about his sober journey on her Self-Conscious podcast.
The virtual applause led Teigen to reflect on her own relationship with drinking, claiming that she took up the practice again in 2025 despite ‘sober for a little over a year’.
She ‘promised’ herself that if she began consuming wine again, she would do it in a ‘mindful’ way.
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This included enjoying it on date nights with her husband, John Legend, and for toasting birthdays.
“And I think that was my first problem. Tying drinking to reward or like some sort of life prize. Soon it became the kind of drinking I’m all too familiar with. Quiet moments at home were for wine,” she continued.
“The time went from 6pm, to 5, to 4, to aw hell, it’s lunch, why not. When it got to 11am, I was like, oh f**k, here we go again.”
Teigen claimed that she believed her ‘quiet and consistent’ drinking wasn’t ‘messy enough’ to stop, but changed her mind after speaking to Radke and being asked to judge on Netflix’s Star Search.
In the social media post, shared with her 40.7 million followers, the former Lip Sync Battle host confirmed she’d not drunk a drop of alcohol in 52 days, and that she had ‘no desire to turn back’.
She said: “Turns out, without it, I can still be funny. Still be stupid. Still be wildly nervous. Anxious as a mother f****r. And I can get through it all without it.”
She added that her podcast episode with Radke ‘changed’ her life, and that it was available to listen to on various platforms.
Celebrities have come out in droves to praise Teigen’s vulnerability, with The Traitors star Ciara Miller writing: “ So proud of you!”
“Love this!! And thank you for sharing. I’m almost 10 months!!,” said hairstylist Laura Rugetti.
“Congrats @chrissyteigen! Glad my boy @carlradke could be a positive influence and vice versa,” commented Summer House’s Kyle Cooke. “So proud of you both.”
What the World Health Organization says
In 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that no level of alcohol consumption was safe.
Describing the substance as a ‘toxic, psychoactive, and dependence-producing substance’, the agency stated that it can cause at least seven types of cancer, including the most common cancer types, such as bowel cancer and female breast cancer.
“We cannot talk about a so-called safe level of alcohol use. It doesn’t matter how much you drink – the risk to the drinker’s health starts from the first drop of any alcoholic beverage,” said Dr Carina Ferreira-Borges, acting Unit Lead for Noncommunicable Disease Management and Regional Advisor for Alcohol and Illicit Drugs in the WHO Regional Office for Europe.
“The only thing that we can say for sure is that the more you drink, the more harmful it is – or, in other words, the less you drink, the safer it is.”
The US dietary guidelines advise that citizens drink ‘less alcohol for better overall health’, but do not suggest specific limits.
In the United Kingdom, men and women are advised not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis.
Topics: Celebrity, Social Media, Alcohol, Drinks
Ella Scott