'I'm so proud of my willpower': Toya Delazy celebrates one year of sobriety

It's been a year since musician and mother of one Toya Delazy gave up alcohol. 

Taking to her socials Toya reflected on her journey of sobriety, sharing she started drinking alcohol at the age of 17.

“I never forgot that feeling of numbness and power, and as problems came with life, the more I saw alcohol as a friend. Becoming an artist really exposed me to the hedonism I wanted after being in suffocating institutions. Booze felt like the solution to everything, and I went in HARD, even though I really was a lightweight.

“When I eventually broke into the South African music scene that is where I really dove into booze. It was free & the entire industry thrived on alcohol consumption. It felt like the higher the price, the cooler you were. I'm talking radio ads, music videos, clubbing, gigs, every single link-up involved alcohol, and I fell hard for it.”

The musician said she was grateful her wife and daughter saved her life.

“Each time I drank, everything would escalate very quickly. There would come a time where I would leave my body and the spirit of pain would consume me and I would become very sad, angry and eventually, suicidal.

“In 2022 I found a community which supported me and a counsellor I had to call every day for a month. It was a difficult transition as all the emotions that had been swept under the rug stood in a towering heap and I had to deal with it SOBER.”

Comedienne and TV presenter Nina Hastie recently reflected on her 10-year sobriety journey, expressing her gratitude to those who helped her. 

“I'm just really grateful to be alive, I'm grateful to so many people who have contributed to my sober life, people who helped me even when I was still inactive,” she said.

“I have so many people whose houses I slept at, and couches I slept on, and so many people who were so very kind to me along the way and in my sober journey who have supported me and given me opportunities and believed in me.”