Lulu opens up about alcoholism and family history on This Morning ahead of memoir release

Lulu, 76, spoke openly about her battle with alcoholism on Wednesday’s This Morning, detailing what led to her last drink in November 2013 and her decision to write If Only You Knew.

On the iconic sofa, the Shout singer talked with hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard about a memoir in which she recounts years of secret drinking and the path to sobriety that followed. The interview touched on a family history shaped by alcohol and the different support available to her then and now.

During the discussion, Cat Deeley framed the conversation by noting Lulu’s family history with alcohol. Lulu recalled that her father, Eddie Lawrie, had a reputation for drinking, saying, "They would say 'Oh Eddie likes a good drink'." She acknowledged the impact of that legacy, telling viewers, "It really makes me sad when I think that my parents didn't have the help that I have today." Lulu added that her sister is a psychotherapist and that she was aware of the issue long before Lulu raised it herself, saying, "My sister is a psychotherapist. She knew not to bring it up until I brought it up."

Lulu identified her parents by name—Betty McDonald and Eddie Lawrie—and highlighted how, in earlier decades, people didn’t have the tools to help themselves through addiction. She emphasized the contrast with her own experience of seeking and receiving support, a contrast she described as a sign of progress rather than a judgment on her upbringing: "Back in that day they didn't have the tools to be able to help themselves." The singer also spoke emotionally about her family dynamics, noting that her sister waited to broach the subject until Lulu was ready to confront it herself: "It really makes me sad when I think that my parents didn't have the help that I have today. My sister is a psychotherapist. She knew not to bring it up until I brought it up."

The interview also touched on Lulu’s long-hidden alcoholism. She recalled her secretive struggle, saying, "I had this secretive, but actually shame-filled, full of shame about being an alcoholic like my dad, full of shame about a lot of things that happened in my childhood, a lot of things I'd done." The discussion turned to the turning point years earlier, with Lulu explaining that the moment of decision often felt out of her control: "I don't think I decided, sometimes things are decided for us. I struggled, struggled, struggled for years, secretly. Nobody knew I was an alcoholic." The host pressed about the severity of her condition, and Lulu described a time when she was not outwardly visible to others, noting that her son did not know she was an alcoholic, even when she went to rehab and called him. She added that the moment of realization could be abrupt and immediate: "I was there the next day."

Family and personal anecdotes formed a central thread of Lulu’s narrative. She described a birthday gathering where, after guests left, only her sister and her sister’s kids remained, two of them living with Lulu at the time, illustrating the quiet, private nature of her struggle. She repeated that she battled the illness for years in secret and that, even in moments she didn’t anticipate, alcohol remained a pervasive presence in her life: "I struggled, struggled, struggled for years, secretly. Nobody knew I was an alcoholic."

Beyond the addiction story, Lulu has also opened up about intimate fears from the early days of her career. An exclusive excerpt from If Only You Knew reveals that she grew up with a sense of discomfort around sex. She writes that she was never openly encouraged to explore her sexuality in the home, and that her mother Betty had at times framed sex in a way that felt shameful. The memoir describes how Lulu, who has described herself as a musician first and foremost, felt fear rather than desire when it came to sexual relationships. "I wasn’t a fan. I was a musician. But, the truth is, I was also afraid of sex. It had never been openly discussed in my home and Betty [my mother] had made it seem almost shameful." She adds that she longed for love and romance but found the reality daunting, spending much of her youth wrapped up in fantasy.

The conversation comes as Lulu prepares to tour and publish the memoir, which situates her personal revelations within a broader timeline of her career that began with the 1964 hit Shout. This Morning airs weekdays from 10 a.m. on ITV, and the interview with Lulu added another layer to the ongoing discussion about addiction, family history, and personal resilience in the public eye.