Comedian Lee Mack – who is hosting the 1% Club tonight (Saturday, April 27) – previously opened up about his decision to quit drinking thanks to a worrying family history.
The Would I Lie To You? star revealed that he’d been reading a self-help book on the subject that prompted him to quit.
And years later, the star is still sober. Chatting on his podcast I Can’t Believe It’s Not Buddha, Lee explained: “Now, I wasn’t what you’d call.. I wasn’t waking up in a skip. I wasn’t that kind of drinker.”
Lee added: “I was just reading this book out of interest.”
Lee Mack on his “family history” with booze
The comedian, who grew up in Lancashire, then revealed that his family has a longstanding history with alcohol.
Lee was once sacked from Pontins for being drunk on the job. He said: “I’ve had a long relationship with booze because I grew up in a pub, and I have got a history of my family being very heavy drinkers.”
Halfway through Easy Ways to Control Alcohol by Allen Carr, Lee decided to give it a go. He said: “Even though it’s called controlling alcohol, it seems to suggest stopping completely.”
He has been sober ever since and is now an ambassador for Alcohol Concern.
Lee ‘just doesn’t want’ a drink any more
The star continued: “The general rule is that people think that you are trying to control your urge to drink and that you’re saying: ‘Okay, I’d like to have a drink, but I won’t because it’s better for my health.’ In other words, you are giving something up.
“This [book] changes that completely. I just, you just don’t want one any more. That’s the difference.”
Lee stopped drinking around six years ago. He even nearly cancelled Not Going Out when repeats started airing on UKTV channel Dave.
At the time Lee explained: “We make it on the BBC, but then it ends up on commercial channels and is heavily sponsored by beer.
“This is my life. I spend 10 months a year doing this, and suddenly I feel like I’m in a brewer’s marketing department, and my work is being sued to sell booze.”
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Read more: Lee Mack confirms he won’t be doing Not Going Out in 2024: ‘It’s not always my decision’
The 1% Club airs tonight (Saturday, April 27) at 8.55pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
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