Everybody Loves Raymond star Patricia Heaton got candid about her sobriety journey, which began after a ‘mortifying’ incident with her family forced her to examine her behavior.
The 68-year-old spoke to Woman’s World about how several major life changes led to a pattern of constant drinking that left her slurring her words in front of her four sons.
Patricia’s sobriety journey revealed
“Right before the pandemic, my children had left home, and I wasn’t working. The things that had always anchored me – my family and my work – were gone,” she explained. “I started thinking, ‘What am I supposed to do today?'”
“A glass of wine while cooking became wine with dinner, wine while cleaning up and wine while watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!” she continued. “One night I realized I had almost finished an entire bottle by myself.”
© Getty Images“As an actor, you study behavior. I noticed my own behavior changing. I was thinking about alcohol differently,” she added, before recalling a prayer she sent asking for help from her god.
“The next night I was with my sons and their friends, and I couldn’t pronounce the word ‘tradition.’ I tried three times. My youngest son said, ‘That’s great, Mom. You can’t even speak.'” Patricia explained: “I was completely mortified. The next morning I said, ‘Okay, God. Message received.’ That was eight years ago.”
Making the move
Patricia shares her four sons, Samuel, John, Joseph and Daniel, with her husband, David Hunt. The couple, who have been married since 1990, decided to make the move from Los Angeles to Nashville in 2023, leaving their sons behind in the City of Angels.
“We just thought that the taxes are high, the crime is high, the homelessness is high, and we’re not working in LA as much as we’re working outside of LA, so why don’t we leave?” she shared on The Rubin Report podcast.
© Variety via Getty Images“And so we just said, ‘Let’s go to Nashville,’ because we were familiar with it, we had friends there, and we really haven’t looked back.”
Patricia cemented herself as a sitcom staple thanks to her role as Debra Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond from 1996 to 2005, and won two Emmy Awards for her performance. She also starred as Frankie Heck in the sitcom The Middle, which ran from 2009 to 2018.
Aging in the spotlight
© Getty ImagesThe mom of four has been candid about maintaining her health in recent years, and shared her stance on aging with Woman’s World.
“I do hormone replacement therapy. I take magnesium. I take minoxidil for my hair,” she explained.
© Getty Images“We’re all just trying to hold everything together. It’s a full-time job. But I also think we need to relax a little. If you’re alive and you have your health, that is the best.”
“I love that women are finally talking honestly about aging,” she added. “Inside, I still feel energetic and curious. I have all the wisdom of my years but the spirit of someone younger.”
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