As Dry January reaches an end, many folks will be considering whether or not picking up alcohol again is really worth it. After all, it’s a drug: an addictive substance that people find themselves craving even when the occasion doesn’t warrant it. Perhaps you’re in this position, and are looking out into 2022 and considering cutting down on alcohol, or cutting it out completely. Well, you’re not alone: Bella Hadid has recently decided to go sober too.
In an interview with InStyle, she revealed that she cut out alcohol around six months ago, realising it was hindering her when it came to navigating a super busy work schedule. “I have done my fair share of drinking. I loved alcohol and it got to the point where even I started to, you know, cancel nights out that I felt like I wouldn’t be able to control myself,” she told the magazine. Instead of throwing back high-sugar mocktail alternatives, she’s co-founded a new “functional” drinks brand called Kin Euphorics instead, which claims to provide the drinker with vitamins and energy sources usually derived from our morning supplements to make ourselves feel better.
Her desire to drink has gone completely. “I don’t feel the need because I know how it will affect me at 3 in the morning when I wake up with horrible anxiety thinking about that one thing I said five years ago when I graduated high school,” she said. “There’s just this never-ending effect of… pain and stress over those few drinks that didn’t really do much, you know?”
Bella isn’t alone in leaning into sobriety. In an article for i-D, writer Alice Crossley examined the sober curiosity boom and how it manifested on sites like TikTok. There, as of October 2021, the hashtag #sober had 1.8 billion views; a sign that the app’s predominantly young millennial and Gen Z audience were pivoting towards a lifestyle without alcohol. “I’m at an age where going out and getting drunk every other weekend is considered very normal,” London-based Nikita told Alice. “Sober TikTok helped me realise that there were lots of other people my age who were in the same boat as me.”
The lifestyles of celebrities are so often aspirational, so it’s interesting to see one of the most influential of our generation pivot to sobriety publicly. Perhaps Bella Hadid’s move will make others consider their own relationship with drinking beyond January 2022. Even if it’s baby steps, finding a balance between enjoying something and that same thing consuming you is a valuable one to strike.