LOVE Island star Dr Alex George has revealed how he turned to drinking to cope with grief, which saw him become overweight/
The NHS doctor has been frank in conversations surrounding mental health and grieving, following the suicide of his younger brother Llŷr in 2020.
Now he’s revealed that his weight had dropped, as he lost six stone following a decision to go sober and give up alcohol for good.
Dr Alex revealed the huge weight loss whilst speaking on the ‘I’m ADHD! No, You’re Not,’ podcast with Dr Mine Conkbayir and Paul Whitehouse.
He explained: “I stopped drinking in December 2022, at the time I was 20 plus stone in weight – I am 14 something stone now.
“Then I was over 20 stone, I was big at the time and my physical health and my mental health was at its worst.
“I was using alcohol to cope with grief. I was either working very hard to bury things or I was drinking. Those two are not a good combo.”
He continued: “I was never addicted. I never suffered addiction but don’t confuse that with a problem.
“We talk about alcoholism and alcohol addiction and go: ‘If you don’t have an addiction then you don’t have a problem’ and there is a big difference.”
Discussing how he switched up his drinking habits and going sober, he revealed that it impacted his whole lifestyle.
He said: “I didn’t struggle putting the bottle down but I struggled adapting to life without it.
“How do you see friends? How do you do different things? You relearn.
“I have learnt a brand new life. I see friends and we go and do runs, we go on the motorbike. There is more socialisation now than there was before.”
The star has also shared his weight loss previously online, keeping followers updated as he transformed his body and shed the pounds.
Dr Alex first shot to fame on Love Island 2018 – but failed to find love in the villa.
Whilst the NHS doctor didn’t head down the typical influencer route after his stint on the ITV dating show, he instead became a mental health advocate.
In 2021, he was announced as the UK Youth Mental Health Ambassador by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
