Miquita Oliver recalls being left homeless 'with no money' as she opens up on battle with alcoholism

She was a main presenter on Channel 4's weekend youth television show, T4, from 2006 to 2010. 

But Miquita Oliver, now 42, has detailed the tough times she has since faced, including being left homeless 'with no money', battling alcoholism and 'living on her mother's sofa and feeling like a failure.'

Miquita talked to her once-nemesis Fearne Cotton on her podcast, Happy Place on Monday, about her struggle with alcohol during her late 20s and early 30s, describing how losing TV jobs and public scrutiny drove her to drink. 

She said of her past self: 'I used to hate her... Miquita aged 29 to 33. Hate on her avidly. And now I'm like, "give her a break". 

'She was an alcoholic, but there was no I had nowhere to turn. I was stuck. I couldn't get out of this place. So, I was like, I'll just haze myself. 

'I had to ask myself why I always wanted to be in that haze of being drunk. And there was such a long time of drinking to celebrate your success. 

'That was five years of fun. But when I then lost jobs and wasn't working but was still very well known and at times had no money...

'...Everyone knows who you are and what you look like but you can't go anywhere  - you're not working and you have no money but everyone knows who you are. It's a really like a terrible place to exist. So, I just wanted to be in a haze all the time.'

Miquita lost her hosting gig at Channel 4 in 2010 after she was heard mocking singer Kesha behind her back. 

She was sacked from her Radio 1 gig in 2005 following an NME interview after telling an interviewer that TOTP should 'get rid of the she-devil Fearne Cotton'. 

Miquita later apologised to Fearne for her comment. 

And Miquita has previously reflected on being made bankrupt in her late 20s after not paying tax for three years.

She was famously hit with a £170,000 tax bill in 2012 and was forced to sell off personal possessions and declare herself bankrupt to repay it.

Miquita confessed she was left homeless, losing her two-bedroom flat in London and spending a period living on her mum Andi Oliver's sofa while still in the public eye.

She said: 'I'd lost my flat because of very external circumstances. So, I was living on my mum's sofa feeling like a failure even though I was probably at the height of my career. And I had to Miss Me? [her podcast] from the sofa. And I was like, "this is hell". 

'And then I got into it and was like, well, my nan lives here with my mom and she's 90 next year and I see her, but I don't see her. 

'Suddenly, I'm living with her all day, every day. I'm with her. We start watching documentaries every night. We go on these long walks with the dogs. We have this time that I will never forget now.

'And I didn't go into it going, this is the time. What's the word? Like if you're like doing time, like, "oh god, I just have to be". I was like, "what a gift to be...And thank god my mum has a big house now, because her career has taken off. 

'Thank God there's all this space. Thank god our nan's alive. Thank god she lives with me. Thank God for life's quite a good one. Like thank God for that.'

In 2022, Miquita moved into her own flat in Clapton, east London, which is near to her mother's home. 

She said: 'Now I live in the best flat that I would have never dreamt of existing. It's so beautiful and I totally had to go through the sofa to get to what we like to call Palace Of Dreams.'

Addressing her bankruptcy on BBC Three programme Young, British & Broke in 2013, Miquita said she was so ashamed about her financial troubles that she didn't tell anybody for two years.

She said: 'At 17 I was earning money I didn’t know how to handle and before I knew it I owed thousands to the taxman.

'I just felt like I couldn’t breathe and that I was sinking. I was so scared about my future and I didn’t tell anyone for 2 years.

'When I was declared bankrupt it felt like I was in a financial mess I would never get out of.'