drew barrymore© Photo: Getty Images

Drew Barrymore reveals she quit drinking after her divorce: 'It was just trying to numb the pain'

The star split from Will Kopelman in 2016

Beatriz Colon - New York
New York WriterNew York
December 27, 2022

If there is one celebrity that knows how to be candid and honest despite the millions of people watching her, it is Drew Barrymore.

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The star has never shied away from being transparent, whether it comes to celebrating achievements or opening up about her hardships and trauma.

Even with something as painful and intimate as a divorce can be, she remains an opening book, and she was so in a recent interview in which she detailed the ups and downs of her latest decade.

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Speaking with People Magazine, Drew didn't hold back when it came to both the hard yet successful growth she has had in recent years.

She is currently on a high with The Drew Barrymore Show, whose ratings have reportedly shot up 70 percent and it is now the fastest-growing daytime show. However, it did come after the "cripplingly difficult" years that were the aftermath of her divorce.

"It just took me down," she admitted, adding: "There are times where you can look at someone you think is a strong person and see them so broken and go, 'How the [expletive] did they get there?' And I was that person. I broke."

Drew was candid about her journey back to happiness

Drew did not shy away from being honest about her coping mechanisms, revealing that after struggling with addiction as a teen – her mother started taking her out to parties at age nine, where she started drinking shortly after – she turned to alcohol.

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She explained: "It was just trying to numb the pain and feel good – and alcohol totally did that for me," adding: "The drinking thing for me was a constant, like, 'You cannot change. You are weak and incapable of doing what's best for you. You keep thinking you will master this thing, and it's getting the better of you.'"

The star recently revealed she was dating again

However, focusing on her daughters, Olive and Frankie, and a newfound passion – and success – in hosting, she went to therapy and quit drinking.

"It was my kids that made me feel like it's game time," she said, and as for her show, it, "gave me something to focus on and pour myself into. It gave us something to believe in."

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