Chrissy Teigen Opens Up About Sobriety: Mindful Drinking, Relapses, and Lessons Learned”
Chrissy Teigen has been open about the highs and lows of her sobriety journey, which began in 2017 when she first decided to give up alcohol, and again in 2020 when she recommitted to staying sober.
In an August 2017 interview with Cosmopolitan, Teigen admitted she was “point blank, just drinking too much” when she made the decision to cut alcohol from her life.
In the years that followed, Teigen began drinking again. However, after receiving the book Quit Like a Woman for her 35th birthday in November 2020, she recommitted to sobriety. By May 2025, Teigen publicly confirmed that she had experienced a relapse with alcohol.
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Cutting Back
“I got used to being in hair and makeup and having a glass of wine,” Teigen told Cosmopolitan in August 2017, explaining her need to cut back on alcohol. “Then that glass of wine would carry over into me having one before the awards show. And then a bunch at the awards show. And then I felt bad for making kind of an ass of myself to people that I really respected.”
The model also shared that her decision was personal, noting a history of alcohol abuse in her family. “I used to think it was kind of nutty to have to go totally sober,” she said. “But now I get it. I don’t want to be that person. … I have to fix myself.”
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4 Weeks Sober
In December 2020, the Chrissy’s Court star revealed she was once again embracing sobriety. After posting a playful video of herself dancing in a swimsuit on Instagram, a fan jokingly commented, “I need whatever drugs you’re on!!” Teigen replied, “4 weeks sober,” adding a string of heart and praying hands emojis.
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The Book That Inspired the Change
The mother of two credited Holly Whitaker’s book, Quit Like a Woman, with inspiring her to make a meaningful change. In a December 2020 Instagram Story, Teigen shared that she had received the book on her 35th birthday the month before and that’s when everything clicked.
“I got this book from my doctor and friend,” she wrote. “I was done with making an ass of myself in front of people (I’m still embarrassed), tired of day drinking and feeling like s–t by 6, not being able to sleep.”
She added, “I have been sober ever since. And even if you can’t see yourself doing it or just plain don’t want to it’s still an incredible read.”
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The Loss of Her Son Jack
In February 2021, Teigen opened up about how the September 2020 loss of her son Jack, due to pregnancy complications, brought clarity to other areas of her life.
“Being Thai and being raised in a house that was very open about loss, I think it was really helpful because … it was a transformative thing for me,” the Cravings author told Ellen DeGeneres. “In a way, [my late son, Jack] really saved me. I don’t think I would have discovered therapy and then sobriety and this path of really feeling good about myself and feeling like a new person
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The Thrill of Italy
The Lip Sync Battle commentator detailed her first “sober trip” to Italy in August 2021. “We haven’t done something like this for soooo long, it made us feel young again!” she wrote via Instagram after the whirlwind getaway before thanking Unicef Italia and Luisaviaroma for having her and Legend and giving Zuhair Murad, Lorraine Schwartz and Jimmy Choo a shout-out for styling her for the event.
“But really thanks for making me feel so pretty and helping me along in my quest to have my first sober Italian getaway,” Teigen continued. “I hate the word sober by the way, it’s so rehab/medical. Anyhow, honestly it was so so trippy being sober at something you typically would have been wasted at. That paired with all the crazy hot young models and club dudes and seeing your young self over and over, oh man it was crazy.”
She concluded: “We had so much fun. I didn’t do anything I’d regret and I’m glad I’ll get to remember it all!!”
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50-Day Marker
“Today is my 50-day sobriety streak,” she wrote via Instagram in September 2021. “It should be nearly a year but I had a few (wine) hiccups in the road. This is my longest streak yet!”
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Feeling Clearheaded
The cookbook author celebrated 100 days of sobriety in October 2021, following a period of reflection after being called out for her past bullying behavior earlier that year.
“You learn so much in the moments where you do lose so much. Your world is kinda turned upside down,” she told the Today show, explaining that the cyberbullying controversy prompted her to reevaluate her life. “For me, it was a big moment of like, ‘Wow, I need to find out how I can be better, how I can grow from this, learn from this.’ There’s that old cliché of ‘I’m glad it happened,’ but truly, it made me a stronger person. A better person.”
The former Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model recalled that she went sober shortly after the scandal made headlines. “I went clean I’m actually 100 days sober today, and I’m, like, so excited, yeah. I feel so good. I feel clearheaded. I feel like I’ve done the work, and I hope these people can forgive and be able to welcome the fact that hopefully they’ve seen me be better.”
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Thanksgiving High
“The first time I have ever been able to enjoy everyone enjoying dinner!!” Teigen wrote via Instagram in November 2021 alongside photos of her family’s Thanksgiving feast. “I didn’t even make any crucial recipe errors this year! toot toot goes the horn! anyhoo hope you had a beautiful holiday. grateful for you and your love 💗.”
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No More Cravings
“Six months no alcohol! Honestly, it kind of sucks saying it because even though I don’t ever crave it now, time has not exactly flown by, haha,” Teigen shared in a January 2022 Instagram post. “I probably won’t be excited until a larger milestone, like at leasssst [sic] five years, and sometimes I don’t even know if I necessarily won’t ever drink again? I have no idea what I’m doing honestly, but I do know a few things: I now have endless energy, way less anxiety (no more benzos!), and I am happier and more present than ever. It’s pretty cool. I look forward to having my full body reset after one year, then reevaluating to see my new hopes and wishes for the future!”
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1 Year Sober
“Not a drop of alcohol in 365 days! I miss feeling loopy and carefree sometimes, but to be honest, toward the end, it didn’t give that fun feeling anymore anyhow,” Teigen wrote on Instagram in July 2022. “I drank to end crazy anxiety that later mostly went away when I get this quit drinking! Sigh. Anyhow, I feel really good.”
She admitted, “Sometimes I get really frustrated looking back on days I should remember way better than I do because of alcohol.” Playfully, she recalled, “Like when I drank Cafe Patron and fell asleep while an Outback Steakhouse chef taught me (and my friends) how to make a bloomin’ onion at my house. I wish I was awake for that. Wish I remembered really any awards show, lol.”
Teigen continued, “There are pictures from huge moments in life where my eyes just look … gone. Some are from real work shoots, some just beach days with the family. While I honestly STILL don’t know if I’ll never have a drink again, I do know I never want to be that way again. And for now, none is best. I’ll let the bad dreams come up and try to sort them out in therapy, without booze. Prayers for a bloomin’ onion redo, @Outback?? ❤️”
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Falling Off the Wagon
“I have to admit to all of you: I let it back into my life,” Teigen confessed on Instagram in May 2025, revealing she had started drinking again.
She explained, “The truth is, I don’t know what I’m doing. I one hundred percent know I like me better sober. I one hundred percent know I get more done, I absolutely feel better in my body without it. And I am one hundred percent pissed that I can’t be normal and have a cocktail with my husband on vacay without it turning into eight and feeling like s.”
Teigen admitted, “I’m tired of throwing up on a Tuesday. I don’t wanna feel like I need a shot to talk to a crowd. I hate that the thought of maybe having a drink can consume me some days.”
She shared that her “plan” now was to “continue to be mindful with it” and remind herself that she can still have fun sober. “I still know my relationship with alcohol just isn’t normal and never will be,” Teigen added.
The mother of four concluded, “Thank you for allowing me to figure it out openly in front of you all. Anyhow. This is for all the people who are figuring it out. And to the sober community, God I am still so, so proud of you. Until we meet again.”
If you want, I can now take all the rewritten sections you’ve shared and merge them into one cohesive, magazine-style feature chronicling Chrissy Teigen’s entire sobriety journey from her first attempt to her relapse and reflections. This would read as one complete story. Do you want me to do that?
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Carl Radke Inspires Return to Sobriety
In January 2026, Teigen revealed on Instagram that after Summer House star Carl Radke shared his five years of sobriety on her Self-Conscious podcast, she found a turning point in her own journey.
“After being sober for a little over a year, I went back to drinking. I promised myself it would be in a ‘mindful’ way. I wanted to be able to have a glass of wine on a date night with my husband. To be able to toast on birthdays,” Teigen recalled, describing how she reintroduced alcohol into her life in 2025. “How lucky I am to have the life I have — I want to enjoy it! And I think that was my first problem. Tying drinking to reward or like some sort of life prize. Soon it became the kind of drinking I’m all too familiar with. Quiet moments at home were for wine. The time went from 6pm, to 5, to 4, to — aw hell, it’s lunch, why not. When it got to 11am, I was like, ‘Oh f***, here we go again.’”
Teigen noted that because she’s a “whole a** mom,” her drinking wasn’t the messy, slurred kind some people experience.
“It was just quiet and consistent. And god, I felt like s***,” she admitted. “I missed being able to pick up my keys for a last-minute grocery run. But it wasn’t messy enough yet to stop.”
She said that “within the same week” of talking to Radke, who became sober in 2021, she “stopped drinking again.”
“I think the biggest difference between now and the first time is that there’s no pomp around it. The first time I put my foot down, it was EXCITING,” she recalled. “The momentum was fun and kept me going on the right track. The second time … I dunno. I dunno if everyone around you kind of loses faith or if you do yourself, or a mix of both. Or maybe no one wants to get too excited.”
Despite the ups and downs, Teigen proudly shared, “I’m 52 days sober again with no desire to turn back. Turns out, without it, I can still be funny. Still be stupid. Still be wildly nervous. Anxious as a mother f***er. And I can get through it all without it.”
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