Celebrity Big Brother Patsy Palmer has revealed she now drinks alcohol again after she previously ditched booze for more than two decades.
The EastEnders icon, 52, whose real name is Julie Merkell, went teetotal in 2004 after earning a reputation as quite the party girl in the nineties.
And ahead of her arrival in the ITV show house on Monday evening, Patsy confessed that she does drink wine now, but only in moderation.
When asked if she still drinks, Patsy said: ‘No, occasionally I’ll have a glᴀss of wine, it doesn’t bother me, with food. I don’t do anything rigid anymore.
‘I went through many years of following certain programs, which I think are great, I’m not saying anyone should do this because I think all of the programs for people are amazing, but I haven’t followed anything for as long, I’ve just found my own way in life and it should be about that.
‘It should give every single individual a way to live their life, hopefully, whether they decide to continue with it forever or whether they decide to go find their own way and do what they want to do, that should be the goal.
Celebrity Big Brother Patsy Palmer has revealed she now drinks alcohol again after she previously ditched booze for more than two decades
The EastEnders icon, 52, whose real name is Julie Merkell, went teetotal in 2004 after she became quite the party girl in the nineties (pictured in 1998)
Patsy, who entered the house alongside the likes of Mickey Rourke, Chesney Hawkes and Trisha Goddard, added: ‘There are some people I know who could never have a drop of alcohol ever again, I did think that would be the case for me because that’s what certain programs tell you, but I was never really a big drinker anyway.’
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Patsy sH๏τ to stardom as market trader Bianca Jackson aged 21, where she found on-screen love with Ricky Butcher, and also found a place in the hearts of the nation.
However off screen, Patsy began struggling with a party hard lifestyle where she would binge on alcohol, cocaine and ecstasy.
The TV star has previously admitted to trying alcohol at eight, sniffing solvents at 11 and even snorting cocaine at just 13.
When she joined the cast of EastEnders, Patsy was a single mother living with her son Charley, now 33, in an East End flat.
She told the Mirror in 2012: ‘Quite often, I’d party all night and go into work the next morning, just grabbing sleep on the set whenever I could, I don’t know how I survived.’
‘My emotions were completely unmanageable at that time and I don’t think I realised how unmanageable they were until I stopped. When I look back and see how much I’ve changed I think I was a different person.’
Patsy, who has been teetotal since 2004, has been married twice; firstly to filmmaker Nick Love for five months in 1998
And ahead of her arrival in the ITV show house on Monday evening, Patsy confessed that she does still drink wine (pictured in 2010)
Patsy sH๏τ to stardom as market trader Bianca Jackson aged 21, where she found on-screen love with Ricky Butcher, and also found a place in the hearts of the nation (pictured in 2024)
However off screen, Patsy began struggling with a party hard lifestyle where she would binge on alcohol, cocaine and ecstasy (pictured in 2024)
Patsy, who has been teetotal since 2004, has been married twice; firstly to filmmaker Nick Love for five months in 1998.
She went on to marry her husband Richard Merkell in 2000 and the couple now share children Fenton, 24, Emilia, 23, and Bertie, 14.
The media personality previously told how the family ‘don’t have alcohol in the house’ and she follows the 12-step programme from Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.
Patsy said: ‘Ask yourself, ‘Is drinking and taking drugs stopping you from being the best person you want to be?’.
‘And if the answer’s yes, it’s time to knock it on the head. Richard and I didn’t want that for our life.
‘I didn’t want to be falling out of clubs. I wanted a settled home life and now I have.’
