Fiona O’Loughlin reveals the devastating memory which helps her stick to sobriety

She has been open and honest about her battle with alcohol addiction.

And on Wednesday, comedian Fiona O’Loughlin, 57, spoke to Daily Mail Australia about her road to sobriety – revealing the ‘powerful’ memory she draws to her mind to remind her what she ‘never wants again’.

‘There was a moment, when I let my girls down so badly,’ the mother-of-five began. ‘They were at a boarding school, and I was to take them formal shopping.’

 

Fiona added that she was in town to do a number of gigs, and pulled her daughters out of school for an exciting day of retail therapy – but due to her addiction, it was a mother-daughter event that would tragically never get to happen. 

‘These are the heartbreaking moments for children of alcoholics,’ she continued. ‘Those girls didn’t go shopping.

‘Instead, they saw their mother in a fetal position all day in bed. So physically harmed by the alcohol, and so full of shame.’

As Fiona traveled to the airport in a taxi with her children, she said: ‘It’s the image of my daughter Tess’ face that I can pull out of my mind and look at that memory.

‘Look at that pain, that hurt. Her face just said everything – silent tears, the longing for not having what she needed from a mother.

‘That’s so powerful now – not every miracle is pretty. That’s such a sad picture, but I need that picture as an image of what I never want again.’

In her new book, Truths From An Unreliable Witness, Fiona discusses the darkest chapters of her life; from attempting suicide three times, to becoming homeless and ending up in a near-fatal coma.

Fiona also infamously relapsed on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2018, and drank hand sanitiser when alcohol was unavailable in the South African jungle.

But her lowest point, she says, was five years ago. 

She continued: ‘The lowest I ever really felt was when I moved back home at the age of 52, penniless and broke.

‘Sitting in the backseat of your parents car at the age of 52, to sign me up for Centrelink. What a day that was.’

Now, Fiona is celebrating almost one year of sobriety since since December 17 2019 – and revealed that she now plans to complete a ‘making amends’ tour, and hand out free tickets to anyone who witnessed her at a low point over the past few decades.

‘I’m going to do a making amends tour… I know the towns where it all happened, and I want to go back there,’ she said.

‘I can still have paying customers – but I want to go to these towns and anyone who was there, who has been there at one of my disasters… they get free tickets.’

Fiona’s book, Truths From An Unreliable Witness: Finding Laughter in the Darkest of Places is out now.

If you or anyone around you is struggling and/or seeking support for alcoholism or substance abuse and addiction call Lifeline on 13 11 14.