Elaine Paige reveals she was addicted to sleeping pills and 'lived on the tablets' during her theatre days - yet has kicked the 'dreadful' habit since the pandemic

Elaine Paige has admitted she was addicted to 'dreadful' sleeping pills during her years on the stage and lived on them for years.

The English singer and actress, 78, said that after a show she would feel 'wired' until the early hours of the morning and was left struggling to sleep.

She has confessed she relied on the sleeping tablets to help her get some rest and she only managed to kick the habit during the pandemic.

Speaking to The Sunday Times magazine about the bad habit, she said: 'I go to sleep but seem to wake up after four hours. For many years in the theatre I lived on sleeping pills, otherwise you’re wired until 2am after a show. 

'I called it my Judy Garland syndrome. They’re dreadful things to become addicted to, which I was. But since the pandemic I’ve managed to get off them and will not take one again. 

'I say to myself that even if I don’t sleep well, I’ll be fine the next day. I’m not ready to take afternoon naps yet.'

These days, Elaine has moved away from performing on stage and has spent the past 21 years presenting Elaine Paige on Sunday on BBC Radio 2.

However, it does hark back to her thespian days as she talks about musical theatre, plays records and interviews people from the industry.

Elaine also just released her new album, Miscellaneous Paige, in July.

She told the publication she hadn't performed since the first COVID lockdown and missed both the community and the creative side of performing.

In June 2025, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to music and charity. This year, she received a Special Award at the Olivier Awards recognising her contribution to theatre.

When she was 29 in 1978, Elaine was cast as the original West End Eva Perón in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Evita. 

The role transformed her from an experienced supporting performer into a major musical-theatre star.

Other memorable roles include Grizabella in Cats, Florence Vassy in Chess and Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. 

Despite her huge career success, Elaine previously revealed her height is her biggest insecurity because she feels her 4ft 11in stature has often caused her to be 'overlooked'.

The West End star admitted she is 'terribly shy' and self-conscious about her height, and said it is something she has suffered from since she was a young girl.

She revealed that she feels her diminutive frame has caused her to be constantly 'overlooked' in the acting business.

Speaking in an interview with this week's Radio Times, she said: 'I'm not even five foot tall and I felt – and still do on some occasions – that no one takes any notice of you because you're living life down here and a lot of the time 'down here' you get overlooked, literally.

'This is all part and parcel of this insecurity, if you like, and terrible shyness because you're not the same as everybody else and I was patronised a lot as a young girl.' 

Elaine can trace the insecurity back to her childhood when her dream of becoming a professional tennis player was 'crushed' by her headmistress who told her: 'But Elaine, dear, you can't even see over the net.'

'I've never forgotten it because in one sentence that woman devastated my dream. I was absolutely crushed,' she said. 

However, she believes playing the role of Evita in the West End show 'saved' her as Eva Perón was only five foot five herself. 

She reminisced on the opening night of Evita in 1978 when she received a nine-minute standing ovation, a life-changing moment which she says she remembers 'so clearly'.

'I did cry because it was completely and utterly overwhelming and I knew at that moment that my life had changed for ever, which it did,' she said.

Elaine won the Laurence Olivier Award for Performance of the Year for the role and it elevated her to stardom.