Michael Ball has given up drinking for three months.
Michael Ball
The ‘Love Changes Everything’ hitmaker admitted he allowed himself to enjoy more alcohol than he usually would drink during COVID-19 lockdown in the UK earlier this year, so embarked on the charity abstinence initiative Stoptober during October and decided to carry on with sobriety until Christmas.
Speaking to The Observer Magazine, he said: “There was so much during lockdown that I did Stoptober and I’ve knocked it on the head until Christmas.
“During lockdown I discovered flavoured gin. Then a nice bottle of Medoc with the roast, before collapsing in front of ‘Antiques Roadshow’.”
While he enjoyed a drink during lockdown, the 58-year-old star never touches a drop if he has to be at work the next day after learning a lesson the hard way.
He said: “It’s happened and I’ve paid the price. I’ve done a hungover show before and vowed to never do it again.
“The last time was after the last night of ‘Chess’, when I got in drunk at 4am and realised I still had to do the [radio] show.”
Meanwhile, Michael has admitted he is a “lurker” on social media and can’t resist reading comments about himself, though he tries to keep in mind that he shouldn’t pay attention to trolls.
The singer - who is one half of musical act Ball and Boe with Alfie Boe - said: “I’m a lurker rather than a participator and I remind myself that the trolls are just people sitting in their pants with nothing going on in their lives.”
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