Love Island star Danny Williams has marked two years of sobriety as he reflected on his mental health journey.
The 27-year-old appeared on season five of the reality series, and struck up a romance with Jourdan Riane during his time in the villa.
However, after their relationship appeared to be going from strength to strength, even moving in together, the pair split just months later with Jourdan accusing Danny of being “dishonest” and “disloyal”.
Now, Danny has revealed that he used drugs and alcohol to try to block out his pain after becoming famous.
The reality star, revealed that he wanted to seem as though his life was fine while having personal problems.
Taking to Instagram, Danny said: “I just hit the 2 year mark without having a single drop of alcohol (for those that don’t know, I was a boarderline crackhead for many years (sic). Long story short, I covered my pain with drink and substances because I wasn’t ready to face my own demons, it was easier to pretend than to face my truths.”
“When most people go sober they say things like: ‘I’ve got so much more energy now’. ‘My sleep has improved so much’. ‘I just feel amazing. I’ve got a spring in my step like never before’. Yeah all that’s nice, but honestly, it’s not MY experience, you wanna know the biggest benefit for me cutting alcohol out of my life? It’s nothing physical at all.”
Danny continued: “It’s me knowing in my heart of hearts that on the mental scoreboard I have with myself, when I lay my head down on my pillow at night.. I’m not letting myself down anymore. Instead of constantly avoiding discomfort I’m facing it every single day BY CHOICE and becoming a better human, partner, son and future father because of it.”
“I know that it’s ‘socially acceptable’ to drink.. And I’m not here to say that anyone else needs to cut it out of their life completely either. But running away from discomfort because it ‘doesn’t feel nice’ in the moment, is the fastest way to eliminate your self esteem and feel completely inadequate in life.”
“Because you know between you and your heart, that scoreboard says: ‘yeah, he always ran from a challenge’ and no matter how socially acceptable your excuses are, deep down you know the truth. How are you supposed to feel capable when every day you prove to yourself that you’re not?”
Despite splitting with Jourdan, who he met on the series, Danny found love again with entrepreneur Beckie Hughes.
The pair went Instagram official in April 2023 and have since moved to Dubai, where they live together.
