Anita Chellamah on Getting Sober at the Top of Her Career

Anita Chellamah was on Top of the Pops with Legs and Co. She fronted the rock band the Cherry Bombs, supported Poison on tour in America, and played the legendary CBGBs in New York. By 28 she was drinking champagne to start the night and Night Nurse to end it.

Then in April 1988, she stopped. She has not had a drink or a drug since. That is 33 years of sobriety.

In this conversation Anita tells Dave the whole story honestly. The first thimble of champagne at 14 in the West End. The drugs that came in with the 80s. The diet pills with speed in them prescribed by a private doctor. The day she finally walked into recovery with debts, no career, and a shoebox of receipts. And the slow, beautiful work of building a real life from scratch — eventually becoming an addiction counsellor, working in HIV care during the worst of the 90s, marrying her husband, raising her son, and going back to writing and singing.

You'll hear about: the 80s music scene from the inside; why career success made her drinking worse not better; the moment of surrender that changed everything; what 33 years sober actually feels like; why she calls it "discovery, not just recovery."

If you've been telling yourself you've gone too far to come back, this one's for you.

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You can also connect with me via Instagram @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/

or via my website https://davidwilsoncoaching.com/

Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice, and also contacts for Anita Chellamah.

Twitter- @ChellamahAnita

https://www.facebook.com/anita.chellamahnurse

https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk/

https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-services

https://nacoa.org.uk/

https://alcoholchange.org.uk/

Show producer- Dani Attanasio