Amanda Byram has revealed why she quit drinking, as it was making her feel “sad” and “depressed”.
The 44-year-old first gave up drinking just before her 40th birthday, but it wasn’t until she met her husband Julian Okines that she ditched the booze for good.
The TV presenter admitted that although she liked the feeling of being “drunk” – she much preferred the feeling of being healthy.
“I felt fine but although I liked being drunk I didn’t like it as much as the feeling of being healthy. So I gave it up again until December and I went out to an engagement party and I remember being so ill,” she told the Irish Mirror.
Teetotal: Julian and Amanda steer clear of the booze | MICHAEL CHESTER
“Not even physically sick, but I remember being really down and sad, the guilt, the fear, all that stuff you feel. Emotionally allergic is when you feel down the next day, a little bit sad, a bit depressed, what did I say? what did I do?
“The guilt the fear or the dark place as a lot of people call it. That’s an emotional allergy to alcohol and I got that. It was never really I got a hangover and was done with it, it clung with me all week,” she said.
“So I dabbled in alcohol every now and again, on a special occasion, and thought, ‘Ok, I can do this as long as I don’t tell myself I’ll never drink again.
Making a change: Amanda says alcohol made her feel sad and depressed | VIPIRELAND.COM
“There was never really an assertive decision to say I am giving up alcohol, but over time I started feeling so much better without it. I met my now husband and interestingly two weeks before he had done the same thing.
“He had his birthday party, got so drunk and was so ill the next day he said he was done, and then we met. So my journey to not drinking was much easier because he wasn’t drinking either.
“Neither of us drink now and we still say we’ll pick an occasion and go out and get drunk but in the past year we’ve not bothered. It takes that length of time to realise you don’t need it because drinking is a habit, it’s a crutch,” she explained.
Body by Byram: Amanda promotes a healthy lifestyle | VIPIRELAND.COM
In the interview, the Dancing With The Stars host also addressed rumours that she’s set to present a breakfast style show in Ireland – which, according to Amanda, caused a lot of controversy in TV3.
“Somebody asked me recently what I’d like to see over here and I said a Big Breakfast-style morning show. Apparently there were some words had at TV3.
“A couple of the people on Ireland AM, who shall remain unnamed, were saying, ‘Amanda Byram will never come back, not as long as we’re here.’
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, seriously?’ It was really funny, there’s nothing commissioned and nothing in the pipeline so nobody needs to worry,” she added.
