Ulrika Jonsson used to 'black out' after binge-drinking

Ulrika Jonsson used to "black out" after binge-drinking alone, before quitting alcohol.

The 57-year-old TV star recently celebrated being 121 days sober but claimed she used to be a "highly functioning binge-drinker" and only quit after a worried friend spoke to her about it.

She told The Sun: "Drink quelled my anxiety. It transported me to another place where I felt at peace — where the problems of the world couldn’t reach me and, most importantly, where I felt numb.

“I drank to kill my feelings of anxiety and my fears of everything.

“I was a highly functioning binge-drinker. I never woke up dishevelled in a pool of sick.

"Now, without drink I feel calm and clear. Not that it’s easy to give up. It’s not. But it’s brought me much needed peace.”

Ulrika paid tribute to her best friend, who confronted her about how worried they were.

She said: "One Saturday morning my best friend, who I love and cherish, called me and basically told me we had spoken the night before and she hadn’t understood a word I had said.

"She told me I needed help. I knew it came from a place of love."

But, it took a while longer for Ulrika to decide to quit.

She said: "I was hungover again some days later and I had nothing but shame running through my veins. My head just knew that this was the end of life as I knew it then.

“I reached out to a friend who hasn’t had a drink for five years and said, ‘I can’t do this any more’. I had the gift of desperation."