Lucy Hale celebrates three years of sobriety as she talks 'miracles and magic' since giving up drinking

Pretty Little Liars star Lucy Hale celebrated three years of sobriety in a touching Instagram post she uploaded Thursday.

The 35-year-old announced she had quit drinking on Valentine's Day 2023, revealing she celebrated the first anniversary of the occasion the previous month.

Now she has uploaded a heartfelt message about the way her life has evolved since she made the decision to go on the wagon.

Lucy, who gave up alcohol one day after New Year's Day 2022, wrote: 'damn. 3 years ago today, I began my journey in remembering who I am.'

She reflected on the intervening years, writing: 'Since then, I’ve experienced moments that can only be described as pure miracles and magic.'

The Memphis-born actress added: 'I am deeply grateful every day—for the people who have been guiding lights, for a power greater than myself that loves me unconditionally, and for my own perseverance in not giving up.'

She made sure to share her gratitude, writing: 'To all of you who have supported my journey, I have felt your love and it means everything to me.'

Lucy added: 'If you are struggling or walking a similar path, keep going. Just keep going. You are not alone and the world needs you.'

She was flooded with supportive comments from the likes of Demi Lovato, who has struggled with addiction herself and wrote: 'So proud of you.' 

The post comes three months after Lucy disclosed that getting sober 'took many, many, many years, many relapses, many dark moments, many falling on my face quite literally, but figuratively as well to figure out what was working in my life, finding out why I was drinking, because removing alcohol is just one part of it,' via People. 

'Since a very young age, I always felt alone and misunderstood. So as a teenager, I found alcohol - which of course shut my brain off. And it worked for me for a while, until it turned really dark,' she recalled.

During her struggles with drink, her work on Pretty Little Liars acted as a buoy, as 'without my career and without that creative outlet, I don't know if I would've made it. I think that show and my love of what I do was my North Star truly, it really gave me purpose, and still gives me purpose.'

However she noted that she 'was constantly in this cycle of extreme depression and anxiety while having to show up to work and be on. And that "being on" fueled even more drinking… I was caught in this cycle that I couldn't get out of.'

Lucy announced her sobriety on Valentine's Day 2023, writing: 'While this journey has mostly been private, I felt compelled tonight to let anyone who is struggling know that you are not alone and you are loved.'

Shortly thereafter, she candidly discussed her past drinking, saying: 'You have to go to a dark place sometimes to get to that point...It’s dark, disgusting, and scary.'

She added: 'I wish I could go back and tell my sixteen year old self, buckle up, girl. We're going to go through some s***,' on the Diary Of A CEO podcast.

Lucy confessed on the podcast that the 'coping mechanisms' she previously relied on for her problems 'were, like, incredibly self-destructive.'

She revealed: 'I've been working on getting sober since I was 20...I just, like, held on to that belief that that real Lucy came out when she was drinking.'

Lucy said she 'tried to change' for her mother and her career, adding that 'one of my best friends died of alcoholism, and that still didn't make me want to get sober.'

Looking back on the way she drank, Lucy candidly reflected: 'Alcohol isn't the problem, the problem is this feeling inside of me.' 

She divulged further: 'I struggled with an eating disorder, because society makes it really freaking hard to like the way you look.'

Said she: 'I hated myself so much that I couldn't even give it basic needs like food...I did not feel worthy of the success or the career or the people in my life.'

In a previous interview in 2017, she said she hoped to quit drinking as she had lost 'interest' in partying and hoped to become the 'best version' of herself. 

'I'm just always trying to surround myself with better people and be the best version of myself possible,' she said at the time to Byrdie magazine.