RADIO STAR CELEBRATES SOBRIETY WITH PODCAST AFTER BEING NAKED, ANXIOUS & ASHAMED

Radio star Danny Lakey - who once was arrested after being naked in public after a bout of drinking - has created a popular new podcast sharing celebrities' journey to sobriety - and his own.

The podcast, Less Drinking, More Thinking, features guests including DJ Tom Lowndes (Hot Dub Time Machine), Sam Newman, Amanda Goff (aka Samantha X); comedian Cam Knight, TV personality Mike Goldman and Alcohol Mindset Coach Kathryn Elliott.

“I started to feel my commitment to sobriety was waning slightly, so I wanted to look back and remember why I made this change in the first place; experience all those feelings and vulnerability again,” Danny said.

“I realised how much loneliness and a fragile male ego was tied to my drinking. I used it as a social lubricant to be able to talk to women and get female gratification.

"I always believed a ‘few’ drinks made me a funnier, better Danny. It just got to a stage where I would drink until I had no self-consciousness at all."

Danny said at the height of his drinking he was arrested for being naked in Cavill Avenue, but it wasn’t until he was in court that he had any idea what he’d done to deserve to be charged.

“There are so many moments like this that should have been the wake-up call to stop but I went another five years before I quit.”

Danny said he hoped the podcast would help people realise their truth and negative relationship with drinking sooner.

“Every time I am out people confide in me that they would like to be sober, so I thought making a podcast might help people and prevent me having to cop all the bad beer breath!

“You don’t have to wait until you hit rock bottom. You know in your heart of hearts if you have a problem. I consciously tried three times to get sober before it stuck, but I just knew I had more potential than the life I was living.”

Danny says his final drink was not at all dramatic.

"I had tried plenty of times to quit officially and had plenty of moments where it should have been my last drink. But the day I quit (October 1 2014) was almost by accident.

"I just knew deep down I needed to stop for a few days and clear my head, that turned into a week and so on and so on.

"I do remember a sense of relief though, which a lot of people describe when they hit “rock bottom”.

"It was relieving to know that if I stopped right now, I’d never have to feel shame, embarrassment, anxiety, hungover etc from my drinking ever again."

Danny said going without alcohol (like anything new) was a skill that needs to be honed.

"Like any new hobby or activity, it feels awkward at first," he says.

"But if you treat it like your learning a new skill then you can celebrate the little wins along the way and before you know it you’ve become an expert at not drinking, learned a lot about yourself in the process and also get to experience the joy of delayed gratification."

Less Drinking, More Thinking unpacks a myriad of ‘whys’ and dives deep into the personal struggles and triumphs that come with the decision to quit drinking. It can be found on the Listnr app, or wherever you find your favourite podcasts.