Ella G. Age 33. Sober: 5/24/15

Ella G. Age 33. Sober: 5/24/15

What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? This conversation with Ella G offers a blunt, no-frills look at how alcohol and drugs can shift from glamorous to grim, and what it really takes to walk away. At 33, with sobriety since May 2015, Ella talks about growing up as "the cool kid" on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, backed by a charismatic, hard-partying father with nightclub connections and celebrity friends.

Teen nights at Bungalow 8, cocaine, older men, expensive clothes – it all felt like a high-end adventure. As she puts it, "we were traipsing around Manhattan like we were 35 years old" while still in high school. The episode then moves into the darker years: adderall-fuelled nights, outrageous drunken episodes, friendships collapsing and, finally, a year of near-total isolation on the Lower East Side.

Ella describes an existence shrunk to a one-block radius, cycling through adderall in a week and then drinking heavily for three, often blacking out for days and saying, "I was just alone, just alone. Like that whole year I was just alone." Host Mike S, also in recovery, relates his own experience of good times gradually giving way to isolation, secret highs and pretending that going to the gym meant things weren’t that bad.

Together they talk candidly about denial, rationalising, the fantasy of "drinking normally", and the moment you realise, "I'm going to die" if something doesn’t change. For those curious about what early recovery looks like, Ella discusses her first AA meetings, lying about her day count, the slow process of getting honest, and the awkward, often hilarious reality of dating and sex without alcohol.

She also touches on amends that aren’t welcomed back and learning to accept that other people’s timelines don’t match her own. If you’re wondering whether the party has quietly turned into maximum pain, Ella’s story might be the nudge you need to ask what comes next.