Loose Women panellist Nadia Sawalha believes getting pregnant with her first child saved her from dying from alcoholism.
The 54-year-old TV star has opened up about how she was “emotionally and physically unwell” when she first met her husband Mark Adderly.
Nadia has admitted that discovering she was pregnant with daughter Maddie, now 16, in 2002 changed her whole outlook on life.
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Speaking on their How To Stay Married (So Far) podcast, Nadia said: “I was such a different person since getting pregnant with Maddie. Because it was like, ‘I’ve got this child and I’ve got to look after her,’ and I immediately stopped drinking.
“I was pregnant and you were still drinking, and I think that was probably the beginning of us saving our lives.
“If I hadn’t got pregnant, we probably would have died. We probably would have gone crazy on the alcohol.”
Nadia – who also has 11-year-old daughter Kiki with Mark – had trouble dealing with her grief following the death of her first husband Justin Mildwater, who took his own life in 1997, and used alcohol as a coping mechanism.
TV producer Mark – who has been open about his addition to alcohol and is now teetotal – agreed with his spouse’s appraisal of their relationship with booze.
He said: “Our drinking would have rumbled on to all sorts of self-destruction of the relationship, and … I certainly would have died.”
The pair married in June 2002 and as well as share the secrets of their relationship on their podcast they also open up on family life on their YouTube channel Nadia Sawalha and Family.
Last month, Nadia opened up about her fear of dying young.
The 54-year-old star revealed that a test she took on Loose Women last year left her feeling so scared that she’s taken drastic measures to make sure she stays in tip-top shape.
Nadia – whose father is a diabetic and has had a stroke – said that after hearing she was “heading towards being pre-diabetic”, she decided to get her fitness in check.
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In January, Nadia also started a 100-day sober challenge and lost 10lb.
She told Closer: “I’m probably going to lose another stone. I don’t want to be thinner than I am but it’s the way to live for longer.
“I don’t want to binge drink any more because I don’t want to die. Everything I do now is about how not to die. I had children late and I want to stay alive for them.”
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