Ex-reality TV star looking back soberly
SPENCER Matthews found fame on Made In Chelsea, the award-winning reality drama which followed the love lives of a group of wealthy London 20-somethings.
But now at 32, the ex-Etonian says life couldn’t be more different from his boozy days on the popular show. He’s been married to Irish model Vogue Williams since 2018 and has two children – Theodore, two, and Gigi, six months.
He’s also sober, and a successful entrepreneur in his own right, having recently launched a lowalcohol liquor company called CleanCo (clean.co).
“I’m not sure I’d know myself, or even be friends with myself, three years ago,” says Matthews, reflecting on all the changes. He says sobriety seemed a natural lifestyle choice ahead of the birth of his son.
“I remember Theodore was going to be born in a few months, and I was at the stage where I was drinking really rather very heavily, and it was going to be a big shock to the system. When you have kids, you realise it’s not really about you any more.”
That said, the TV star says there’s a difference between being teetotal and being sober, and there wasn’t a dramatic intervention moment where he finally said no to drinking. Like an increasing amount of people, he was simply “sober curious” – interested in questioning his drinking habits for health-focused reasons.
“I choose not to drink alcohol but I don’t see it as an enemy,” he stresses. “I’m not in recovery and I don’t have an alcohol dependency issue; I just prefer living my life in a sober manner, having been drunk for a lot of my 20s.
“In the past, I’d drink to be social and I’d formed poor habits over time. I didn’t even realise I drank to excess in the way that I did, as it wasn’t this big looming problem. I wasn’t being sat down by my friends and being told they think there’s some kind of issue.”
His interest in sobriety led him to founding his low-alcohol drinks start-up, which has just raised funds to expand worldwide. The company, called CleanCo, uses traditional distilling methods to create ultra low-alcohol spirits – including rum and gin with 1.2% ABV that tastes remarkably like the real thing.
“Some of our products have extremely small amounts of alcohol in, but lots of day-to-day foods have trace amounts too. I’ll cook with wine and if there’s a bit of brandy in chocolate, I’ll have that too. Let’s just say, there’s more alcohol in a ripe banana then there is in a ‘clean’ gin and tonic, and I haven’t heard of anyone falling over from too many bananas,” he says.
Matthews saw a gap in the market for people like him, who don’t class themselves as “problem drinkers” as such, and still wanted to enjoy their favourite spirit on a Friday night. “It’s quite difficult to deprive yourself of something you want or desire – especially when you don’t think you have an issue,” he says.
“A lot of people aren’t alcoholics but probably feel like they drink a bit too much. I want to make that experience of having that ‘alcoholic’ drink as regular as you want it, but there just won’t be that impact the next day.”
As the low and no-alcohol drinks sector continues to grow, he believes we’ll see a shift in approaching alcohol as fullstrength and low-strength, and there won’t be a stigma attached to drinking the latter on a night out at the local pub.
“When I decided to quit alcohol, there wasn’t anything to fill that gap. If I was in the pub, I’d have to order a Coca-Cola and it makes you stick out negatively for making a positive decision, which is rare,” he explains.
“If you decided you want to lose weight or take up running, most of your mates will think that’s a ‘good for you’ moment. Whereas if you don’t go out drinking, your mates think you’ve become boring. That’s a shame. I think the stigma around not drinking should change, so it’s not just socially acceptable but a positive thing.”
With the future bright and his life seemingly in equilibrium, does he have any regrets about the “old Spencer” he left behind?
“I wish I’d done less reality television, to be honest,” he laughs. “I probably would have left TV to pursue a career in business earlier.
“I’m finding it really hard as a young entrepreneur to break that mould of being ‘that guy’ from ‘that show’. It isn’t the end of the world, because it was a popular show, but my life is so different now.
“I kind of feel like saying to people, ‘Well what were you doing when you were 19? Do you want to be remembered for that for the rest of your life?’ It’s kind of an unfair label to carry, especially when you’re sober, because the two people are miles apart from each other.
“I try not to regret those things from my past though,” Matthews concludes.