Charlie Sheen's agony over daughters he shares with Denise Richards - 'It broke my heart'

Charlie Sheen recently opened up about how an encounter with his daughter drove him to finally quit drinking.

As the Two and a Half Men star celebrates six years of sobriety next month, he spoke candidly about how he was influenced to go cold turkey on booze after realizing how it was impacting his parenting.

© Christopher Polk

Referring to his two daughters, Sami, 19, and Lola, 18, who he shares with ex-wife Denise Richards, he explained that one morning he’d forgotten his daughter had an appointment. He’d promised to drive her to, as “I’d already had a couple of pops that day”. 

"I had to call my friend Tony to take us”, Charlie added. “We got her there on time, but it broke my heart because she was in the backseat and I could just tell she was thinking, 'Why isn't dad driving?'”

When the actor got home, he “sat with that for the rest of the day. And the next morning I just stopped."

Six years on from that, he hasn’t looked back since, having already stopped doing drugs. But the actor explained to PEOPLE that he took it month by month.

© Craig Barritt

"I think the first month I was like, I'm going to have to give it a month, just see if I feel any better, and if my interactions with those that are closest to me improve," he explained. "And they did. And I'm like, all right, I'm going to go another month. And then it got traction. I had momentum."

"There was just instant evidence that this was the side I needed to be on”, he added. “I couldn't be in denial about it anymore."

His sobriety, he claims, has helped him in his role as a single father to twins Max and Bob, 14, as his ex-wife Brooke Mueller has been dealing with her own addiction issues.

While previously Charlie would drink in the morning, particularly “scotch in the coffee”, now he wakes up early - around 4:30 or 5am - to “get an early jump on the news, work out, answer emails." 

Then he gets the kids up to “help them with their morning routine — if you can call it a routine." 

Now Charlie is making his way back in the spotlight, as he guest stars in Chuck Lorre’s new dramedy, Bookie, which is streaming on Max, as the two have put their 12-year-long feud behind them.