Janet Devlin has revealed her battle with alcoholism in a candid new YouTube video.
The Tyrone native, who rose to fame on The X Factor back in 2011 when she was just 16, has been sober for five years after realising she was an alcoholic when she was 20.
Speaking on her YouTube channel, Janet said: “I was in the privileged position to learn I was an alcoholic young. My rock bottoms happened earlier in my life than most people’s, and I’m aware of that.”
Janet said the fact that she had her own money when she was a young teenager aided her addiction.
The 25-year-old explained how after being eliminated from The X Factor, she moved into an apartment in Sheffield.
“One of my biggest triggers for booze was loneliness. I lived on my own when I was 17. That’s when things started to go off the rails,” she said.
“My team, my family and friends were doing their best. My mum was at a loss because I could not stay sober. It was not my parents’ fault. I never saw my parents drunk when I was a kid.”
It wasn’t long before Janet found herself drinking every night of the week, and she ended up attempting suicide.
Finally at 20-years-old, Janet realised that she needed to get help.
“Eventually I found AA. That was when my life changed. I did the 90 meetings in 90 days and I became a person again,” she said.
In the video’s description box on YouTube, Janet wrote: “Hi I’m Janet and I’m an alcoholic. As much as you may think this is clickbait, it’s not. I’ve been wanting to make this video now for five years, but the timing never really did feel right.”
“I just wanted to be honest and open with you so you can know the real me. I know you may be wondering why I’d even post something like this.”
“The truth is, when I was searching for someone online 5 years ago who was talking about these things, it was hard to find. Which only made me feel even more isolated and alone.”
“So as much as I hope you don’t relate to this video, if you do, you’re not alone. I’m sorry if you feel mislead,” she added.
