Chrissy Teigen has been vocal about her ups and downs while dealing with her sobriety, beginning in 2017 when she first cut out alcohol — and again in 2020 when she recommitted to being sober.
In the years that followed, Teigen started to drink again, but after receiving a book on her 35th birthday in November 2020 titled Quit Like a Woman, she recommitted to a sober life. In May 2025, Teigen confirmed she’d had a relapse with alcohol.
Teigen announced in January 2026 that she was “52 days sober again” after Summer House’s Carl Radkeinspired her to refocus on her health journey.
Scroll down to see what Teigen has said regarding her sobriety journey over the years:
Credit: Jamie McCarthy/WireImage
Everything Chrissy Teigen Has Said About Her Sobriety Journey: ‘Mindful’ Drinking, Relapses, More
Chrissy Teigen has been vocal about her ups and downs while dealing with her sobriety, beginning in 2017 when she first cut out alcohol — and again in 2020 when she recommitted to being sober.
Teigen told Cosmopolitan in August 2017 that she was “point blank, just drinking too much” when she chose to ditch alcohol.
In the years that followed, Teigen started to drink again, but after receiving a book on her 35th birthday in November 2020 titled Quit Like a Woman, she recommitted to a sober life. In May 2025, Teigen confirmed she’d had a relapse with alcohol.
Teigen announced in January 2026 that she was “52 days sober again” after Summer House’s Carl Radkeinspired her to refocus on her health journey.
Scroll down to see what Teigen has said regarding her sobriety journey over the years:
Credit: Jamie McCarthy/WireImage
Everything Chrissy Teigen Has Said About Her Sobriety Journey: ‘Mindful’ Drinking, Relapses, More
Chrissy Teigen has been vocal about her ups and downs while dealing with her sobriety, beginning in 2017 when she first cut out alcohol — and again in 2020 when she recommitted to being sober.
Teigen told Cosmopolitan in August 2017 that she was “point blank, just drinking too much” when she chose to ditch alcohol.
In the years that followed, Teigen started to drink again, but after receiving a book on her 35th birthday in November 2020 titled Quit Like a Woman, she recommitted to a sober life. In May 2025, Teigen confirmed she’d had a relapse with alcohol.
Teigen announced in January 2026 that she was “52 days sober again” after Summer House’s Carl Radkeinspired her to refocus on her health journey.
Scroll down to see what Teigen has said regarding her sobriety journey over the years:
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Cutting Back
“I got used to being in hair and makeup and having a glass of wine,” Teigen told Cosmopolitan in August 2017, noting that she needed to reduce her alcohol intake. “Then that glass of wine would carry over into me having one before the awards show. And then a bunch at the awards show. And then I felt bad for making kind of an ass of myself to people that I really respected.”
The model explained that she made the choice herself, revealing there is a history of alcohol abuse in her family. “I used to think it was kind of nutty to have to go totally sober,” she said. “But now I get it. I don’t want to be that person. … I have to fix myself.”
Credit: Courtesy of Chrissy Teigen/Instagram
4 Weeks Sober
The Chrissy’s Court star revealed in December 2020 that she was again sober. After sharing a goofy video of herself dancing in a swimsuit via Instagram, one fan jokingly commented, “I need whatever drugs you’re on!!” Teigen replied, “4 weeks sober,” alongside a string of heart emojis and praying hands emojis.
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The Book That Inspired the Change
The mother of two credited writer Holly Whitaker’s book, Quit Like a Woman, for inspiring her to make a change in her life. She noted via her Instagram Story in December 2020 that she received the book on her 35th birthday one month prior, which is when everything clicked.
“I got this book from my doctor and friend,” she wrote. “I was done with making an ass of myself in front of people (I’m still embarrassed), tired of day drinking and feeling like s--t by 6, not being able to sleep.”
Teigen continued: “I have been sober ever since. And even if you can’t see yourself doing or just plain don’t want to, it’s still an incredible read.”
“Being Thai and being raised in a house that was very open about loss, I think it was really helpful because … it was a transformative thing for me,” the Cravings author told Ellen DeGeneres at the time. “In a way, [my late son, Jack], really saved me. I don’t think I would have discovered therapy and then sobriety and this path of really feeling good about myself and feeling like a new person.”
Credit: Courtesy of Chrissy Teigen/Instagram
The Thrill of Italy
The Lip Sync Battle commentator detailed her first “sober trip” to Italy in August 2021. “We haven’t done something like this for soooo long, it made us feel young again!” she wrote via Instagram after the whirlwind getaway before thanking Unicef Italia and Luisaviaroma for having her and Legend and giving Zuhair Murad, Lorraine Schwartz and Jimmy Choo a shout-out for styling her for the event.
“But really thanks for making me feel so pretty and helping me along in my quest to have my first sober Italian getaway,” Teigen continued. “I hate the word sober by the way, it’s so rehab/medical. Anyhow, honestly it was so so trippy being sober at something you typically would have been wasted at. That paired with all the crazy hot young models and club dudes and seeing your young self over and over, oh man it was crazy.”
She concluded: “We had so much fun. I didn’t do anything I’d regret and I’m glad I’ll get to remember it all!!”
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50-Day Marker
“Today is my 50-day sobriety streak,” she wrote via Instagram in September 2021. “It should be nearly a year but I had a few (wine) hiccups in the road. This is my longest streak yet!”
"You learn so much in the moments where you do lose so much. Your world is kinda turned upside down,” she said on the Today show at the time, noting the cyberbullying controversy made her reevaluate everything in her life. "For me it was a big moment of like, 'Wow, I need to find out how I can be better, how I can grow from this, learn from this. There's that old cliché of 'I'm glad it happened,' but truly it made me a stronger person. A better person.”
The former Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model recalled getting sober shortly after the scandal made headlines. “I went clean — I'm actually 100 days sober today and I'm, like, so excited, yeah. I feel so good. I feel clearheaded,” she continued. "I feel like I've done the work, and I hope these people can forgive and be able to welcome the fact that hopefully they've seen me be better.”
Credit: Courtesy of Chrissy Teigen/Instagram
Thanksgiving High
“The first time I have ever been able to enjoy everyone enjoying dinner!!” Teigen wrote via Instagram in November 2021 alongside photos of her family’s Thanksgiving feast. “I didn’t even make any crucial recipe errors this year! toot toot goes the horn! anyhoo hope you had a beautiful holiday. grateful for you and your love 💗.”
Credit: Courtesy of Chrissy Teigen/Instagram
No More Cravings
“6 months no alcohol! Honestly kind of sucks saying it because even though I don’t ever crave it now, time has not exactly flown by haha,” Teigen revealed in a January 2022 Instagram post. “I prob won’t be excited til a larger milestone like at leasssst [sic] 5 years, and sometimes I don’t even know if I necessarily won’t ever drink again? I have no idea what I’m doing honestly, but I do know a few things: I now have endless energy, way less anxiety (no more benzos!) and I am *happier* and more present than ever. It’s pretty cool. I look forward to having my full body reset after 1 year, then reevaluating to see my new hopes and wishes for the future!”
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1 Year Sober
“Not a drop of alcohol in 365 days! I miss feeling loopy and carefree sometimes, but to be honest toward the end, it didn’t give that fun feeling anymore anyhow,” the cookbook author wrote via Instagram in July 2022. “I drank to end crazy anxiety that later mostly went away when I — get this — quit drinking! Sigh. Anyhow I feel really good.”
She noted that “sometimes I get really frustrated looking back on days I should remember way better than I do because of alcohol.” Teigen playfully recalled, “Like when I drank cafe patron and fell asleep while an Outback Steakhouse chef taught me (my friends) how to make a bloomin onion at my house. I wish I was awake for that. Wish I remembered really any awards show lol.”
The model continued: “There are pictures from huge moments in life where my eyes just look … gone. Some are from real work shoots, some just beach days with the family. While I honestly STILL don’t know if I’ll never have a drink again, I do know I never want to be that way again. And for now, none is best. I’ll let the bad dreams come up and try to sort them out in therapy, without booze. Prayers for a blooming onion redo, @outback?? ❤️.”
Credit: Courtesy of Chrissy Teigen/Instagram
Falling Off the Wagon
“[I] have to admit to all of you: I let it back into my life,” Teigen confessed via Instagram in May 2025, revealing she’d started drinking again.
She explained, “The truth is, I don’t know what I’m doing. I one hundred percent know I like me better sober. I one hundred percent know I get more done, I absolutely feel better in my body without it. And I am one hundred percent pissed that I can’t be normal and have a cocktail with my husband on vacay without it turning into 8 and feeling like s***.”
Teigen admitted, “I’m tired of throwing up on a Tuesday. I don’t wanna feel like I need a shot to talk to a crowd. I hate that the thought of maybe having a drink can consume me some days.”
She noted that her “plan” now was to “continue to be mindful with it” and remind herself she can have fun sober. “I still know my relationship with alcohol just isn’t normal and never will be,” Teigen added.
The mother of four concluded, “Thank you for allowing me to figure it out openly in front of you all. Anyhow. This is for all the people who are figuring it out. And to the sober community, God I am still so, so proud of you. Until we meet again.”
Credit: Courtesy of Chrissy Teigen/Instagram
Carl Radke Inspires Return to Sobriety
Teigen revealed via Instagram in January 2026 that after Summer House star Carl Radke opened up about his five-years of sobriety on her “Self-Conscious” podcast, she turned a corner in her own journey.
“After being sober for a little over a year, I went back to drinking. I promised myself it would be in a ‘mindful’ way. I wanted to be able to have a glass of wine on a date night with my husband. To be able to toast on birthdays,” Teigen recalled via social media of how she reintroduced alcohol into her life in 2025. “How lucky I am to have the life I have — I want to enjoy it! And I think that was my first problem. Tying drinking to reward or like some sort of life prize. Soon it became the kind of drinking I’m all too familiar with. Quiet moments at home were for wine. The time went from 6pm, to 5, to 4, to aw hell, it’s lunch, why not. When it got to 11am, I was like, ‘Oh f***, here we go again.’”
Teigen noted that because she’s a “whole a** mom,” her drinking was not the “slur your words and miss a step on the stairs” like some people experience.
“It was just quiet and consistent. And god, I felt like s***,” she confessed. “I missed being able to pick up my keys for a last-minute grocery run. But it wasn’t messy enough yet to stop.”
Teigen said that “within the same week” of talking to Radke, who became sober in 2021, she “stopped drinking again.”
“I think the biggest difference between now and the first time is that there’s no pomp around it. The first time I put my foot down, it was EXCITING,” she recalled. “The momentum was fun and kept me going on the right track. The second time … I dunno. I dunno if everyone around you kind of loses faith or if you do yourself, or a mix of both. Or maybe no one wants to get too excited.”
Despite her past ups and downs, Teigen was proud to say, “I’m 52 days sober again with no desire to turn back. Turns out, without it, I can still be funny. Still be stupid. Still be wildly nervous. Anxious as a mother f***er. And I can get through it all without it.”
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