Drew Barrymore Explains Why She Waited Two Years To Reveal She Was Sober On ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’: “It Was Gayle King Who Got It Out Of Me”

It’s been just over two years since Drew Barrymore told the world she stopped drinking alcohol. On this morning’s episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, the talk show host looked back on her confession — and how her close pal Gayle King got it out of her on live television.

The conversation came up during Barrymore’s interview with Which Brings Me to You star Lucy Hale, who recently celebrated two years of sobriety herself.

“I stopped drinking. Alcohol was my poison. I’m not sober, I’m don’t work program but it’s alcohol for me,” Barrymore said. “I didn’t say anything. Funny enough, it was Gayle King who got it out of me on CBS Mornings.”

She added, “I was at the two-year mark.”

In December 2021, Barrymore told King that she had not had a drink in two-and-a-half years because she realized that alcohol no longer served “me and my life.”

“This was something I didn’t talk to people about for years because it was this quiet, confident journey,” she said at the time, per Self. “And now, it’s been long enough where I’m in a lifestyle that I know is really working on a high road for my little journey. And there’s so much peace finally being had where there were demons.”

Like Barrymore, Hale agreed that there was a difference between her first year of and second year of sobriety.

“I feel like the first year I was just like, ‘OK. Stay safe. Stay home,'” she said. “Certain elements of my life fell away, new people came into my life. But my second year I was having fun. I gave a new definition to fun. It looks different these days. I was going out, I was going to dinners, I was going to the events. I wasn’t avoiding anything.”

The Pretty Little Liars alum prompted Barrymore to have a “revelation,” which ultimately validated her decision to keep her sobriety journey private at first.

“When you have a behavior that you know is not serving you, I think we lose trust in ourselves that we’re never gonna break that cycle,” Barrymore said. “And somewhere around two years was when I started to trust myself, maybe. I didn’t know it then.”

She continued, “You saying what you’re saying is making me think maybe that’s a good time to put it out in the world, to your peers, to other people — to plant that flag in the sand when you’ve earned time and trust.”

Hale jumped in to praise Barrymore for talking “so openly” about this, adding that there’s “no telling how many people you’ve helped.”

The Drew Barrymore Show airs on weekdays on CBS. You can check the website for local airtimes.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, call the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357.