Weekend Sunrise news presenter Talitha Cummins says outing herself as an alcoholic on Facebook saved her life.
After years of denial that she had a problem, the mum-of-one says it finally forced her to confront her addiction.
“I wasn’t ready to come out to the world and wanted to delete the post [a blog for the Hello Sunday Morning forum] but accountability on that scale is great for sobriety,” she told The Sun-Herald.
“It was around the time when you didn’t look at Facebook every two minutes on your phone, you had to log onto a computer and when I checked that it was also public on my page I saw the responses had just blown up. People were really supportive.”
Talitha, who describes herself as the modern face of alcoholism: young, professional, educated and high functioning, is sharing her story in all its confronting detail on an episode of Australian Story.
Now four years sober and new mum to baby Oliver, who arrived in August, Talitha is determined to break down stereotypes around alcoholism and promote more discussion about the extent of problem drinking in society.
“With alcoholism and recovery there is no finishing line,” she says. “It’s ongoing, recovery will be always and forever.”
Talitha says she began binge drinking when she was 14. As soon as she had one drink it would unleash an “unstoppable need” for more and more.
“I’ve done things that I’m not proud of and I’ve done things that I probably won’t ever remember,” she says.
“I went to the media awards in Brisbane all dressed up in a formal dress and proceeded to drink myself into oblivion. I was told I was carried into a car to be sent home.”
When things came to a head a few years ago, Talitha was drinking up to four bottles of wine a night.
She was fighting serious depression and had overdosed and been rescued by a friend.
When her boss at Channel Seven confronted her, Talitha finally found the strength to take action.
“The threat of losing her job made her sober up,” says friend and fellow newsreader Chris Bath.
“There were a few unkind comments, but the overwhelming reaction was that it was a really courageous thing for her to do.”
Talitha signed up for Alcoholics Anonymous and the online help site Hello Sunday Morning and embraced the long haul of recovery.
She also married former Cronulla Sharks player and Flow Athletic co-founder Ben Lucas, who has also sworn off alcohol in support of his wife.
Talitha says she knew they were meant for each other when one of their first dates involved a New Year’s Day morning run.
Australian Story: The Big Dry, Monday, October 10, 8pm, ABC and IView