Michelle Heaton mistakenly believed going into rehab was like having a spa break and got a real wake-up call when she asked staff where she could find the swimming pool.
The Liberty X singer and reality TV star has battled life-threatening addictions during her colourful celeb career but managed to turn her life around following a stint in a clinic earlier this year.
The 42-year-old recovering addict has now admitted she got the shock of her life when staff at The Priory hospital politely told her she was not on a holiday.
“It was really hard,” reflected Michelle on her rehab. “I don’t know what I was expecting but I definitely expected some sort of spa and it’s not.
“They kept telling me that when I said, ‘Where’s the pool?’”
But she revealed going to the £5,000-a-week London facility definitely saved her life, with a three-year cocaine and drink addiction having left her close to death’s door.
“I did feel like I was in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest for a good four days,” admitted Michelle, speaking on ITV’s Loose Women.
“It made me feel like I was going insane, but they know what they’re doing and it works for a reason.”
Mum-of-two Michelle is celebrating being 100 days sober this week, a promising step in her bid to get better.
And the former Celebrity Big Brother personality shared a candid message with her 246,000 Instagram fans to toast the landmark, urging people with addictions and their own struggles to stay strong and seek help.
“You are not alone, you are me, I was you!” stressed Michelle. “100 days! Clean and sober! 100 days ago I took this photo, the morning I went into rehab.
“I remember waking up after yet another night of a party for one, alone by myself in utter madness and chaos.
“100 days on, and I wake up (with still tired eyes), but tired from just a restless sleep, not a drugged up binge.
“All I could see was darkness, now I can see light. Where there was pain I feel joy. Where there was no hope I have comfort.
“I hate to preach .. but here I go! I’m preaching to the still suffering addict. You are not alone, you are me, I was you!”
She added: “If you are in pain if you are controlled and have become powerless to this disease only YOU can label yourself!
“Admitting you need or want help is the first and hardest step. Let’s beat this! One day at a time. Not fr tomorrow, just for today! Help is out there.”
Former HearSay star Michelle also recently revealed she lost all sense of self-worth having slipped to the deepest of addiction problems.
“I didn't think I deserved anything,” she told new! magazine. “I think that's the thing with addiction, you don't feel worthy of anything.
“That's why you drink, because you want the pain to end. That's the reality of addiction.”
