Jack Vidgen has revealed he quit drinking to gain clarity and make better life decisions.
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The 24-year-old, who was thrust into the spotlight as a teenager after winning Australia’s Got Talent, gave up booze five months ago following a stint in rehab.
When asked on an Instagram Q&A if he was still abstaining from alcohol, Jack responded: “Yes still sober. Drinking wasn’t really my downfall though”.
“I wasn’t an alcoholic. It blurred by decision making though which led to other things. I’ll talk about all of this more one day,” he teased.
Jack said the benefits to a sober lifestyle is gaining “a lot more clarity” in his life, while the cons have been missing out on his beloved red wine.
“I do love the taste of a good red wine and I am yet to find a good non-alcoholic one,” he said.
The I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! star admitted he will likely return to drinking at some point in his life.
“I’m not sure I won’t drink forever. I just want to make sure I’m in a place in life and within myself to handle it,” he said.
“I do believe we can heal from trauma. My substance use was more about escaping my reality of some of the things that have happened through my life. I hadn’t dealt with them. I am now dealing with them.”
Jack’s candour about his drinking comes after he spent six weeks in rehab for substance abuse at the end of 2020.
“I think COVID just brought up a lot of demons for me. It brought up a lot of issues,” he told Now To Love in March.
“I was grabbing onto a lot of things to help me escape.”
Acknowledging he was spiralling, Jack checked himself into a rehab clinic on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, with his family “rallying around him like a bunch of angels” in support, with his mum at the forefront.
“Rehab really opened up that door for me to talk about my issues, and I thank God because I’m able to process things in a healthy way now,” he said.
Jack’s mother Rachel said his rehabilitation was a “hard time” for the family.
Jack said last year’s COVID lockdown “fast tracked” his abuse of alcohol.
“I found myself in a reoccurring cycle which felt like a nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from,” he said.
“I wasn’t busy. The pandemic was a really hard time for me, like for so many.”
In June, three months after giving up booze, Jack uploaded a photo of his progress in the gym with his new personal trainer.
The 24-year-old appeared visibly more toned and had started to develop a six-pack.
“I have such resounding peace in my life at the moment. I feel so present and so grateful,” he captioned the post.
