Could I be any more drunk?
Suzanne: I quit booze after doing Friends impressions.. to Chandler
SUZANNE Shaw knew she needed to give up booze after drunkenly impersonating Friends star Matthew Perry when she met him.
The former Hear’say singer says he thought it was hilarious to repeat some of his character Chandler’s bestknown lines at a showbiz do.
But even now, six years on, Suzanne, 41, says the way she behaved “makes me cringe”.
Matthew – who played wise-cracking Chandler Bing in the hit US comedy – was starring in a play in London’s West End when Suzanne accosted him in 2016.
She said: “I’d had three large glasses of wine. I promised myself I wouldn’t go up and blurt something out to Matthew, but I did. I said to him, ‘You’re one of my son’s favourites’, and did a few impressions.
“I had my arm around him, was slurring and my balance was off. He just wasn’t impressed. It still makes me cringe.”
The awkward encounter forced Suzanne to look at how much she was drinking – and the actress and singer gave up for good three years ago. Now she has just launched her own wellness app, The Happy Health Club.
Suzanne found fame in 2000 when Hear’say won the TV talent contest Popstars. Their debut single, Pure and Simple, was the fastest selling noncharity record ever in the UK. But the band broke up less than two years later, leaving Suzanne battling anxiety and depression.
She said: “I don’t think you can prepare for overnight fame like that, and then it ended suddenly.
“I felt overwhelmed, so I used alcohol to numb the pain. If I was with friends, I’d get my boobs out. I’ve no idea why.
“Other times I’d get sleepy. I’d nod off in restaurants or at parties. I once fell asleep at the table at a charity event.”
In 2020, to coincide with the 20th anniversary of being in the entertainment industry, Suzanne vowed to give up alcohol and get fit.
The mum of two, who lives in Buckinghamshire, said: “If somebody had said to me that I’d end up sober and running a wellness app, I’d have laughed them out of the pub with a kebab in hand. But I’m a different person now.
“Getting sober has changed my life.”
I’d had three large wines… he wasn’t impressed SUZANNE RECALLS CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER