Former EastEnders star John Partridge has said he is "at peace", having just reached 300 days sober.
The actor, who played Christian in the BBC soap, was a guest on ITV's Good Morning Britain on Thursday, where he discussed his sobriety and his autobiographical one-man show, Stripped, which he has brought to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
#Checkpoint @AssemblyFest tonight 6:30pm ... pic.twitter.com/sGVLYe7CTj
— John Partridge (@mustbejp) August 2, 2018
"As of yesterday [August 1,] I am 300 days sober and it's been, obviously, a life-changing experience for me," Partridge told hosts Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard.
"And so it felt a good time to look back at my life to where I've been and, obviously, where I'm going.
"I can only look at my life through the eyes I have now, and it just felt like it was the right time for me to do this. And I'm absolutely loving my new life."
Reflecting on his struggle, Partridge said: "Any form of addiction is about not wanting to feel, whether that is food, drugs, drink, shopping, sex - that's what it's about. And that's what I didn't want to do; I didn't want to feel.
"I never felt confident in just being myself and just allowing myself to feel like me. And that's what it took me a long time to do."
Partridge said that taking part in The Full Monty charity show at the beginning of the year had been a "floodgate", allowing him "to open up and be honest about an aspect of my life I'd kept private - even from my family - for 14 years".
"The overwhelming sense of relief, and comfort, and support I got from the public, from my friends and from my family gave me confidence to open that out and open that conversation out and explain where I'd been," he continued.
Reflecting on his life, pre-sobriety, Partridge said: "I say in my show, 'My parties were legendary'. And they were.
"Lots of people in this audience tonight have been at such an event but the thing for you, it was a one-off or a monthly thing or a three-monthly thing. But for me, it was every night of the week. And it was hard work. It really was hard work, because people would come to me to have their good time, and I ended up having a good time every night of the week."
"I'm not blaming, I'm not saying, 'That's why I did it', but it is part of it," Partridge added. "And now people don't necessarily know how to deal with me.
"I still say in my show, 'I still want to party, dance, live, love, laugh, cry, win, lose, rock and roll'. I am still me, Johnny; I'm just a sober version. And I can tell you right now, I am way better for it."
