TV&REVIEWS
Our pick of what to watch this week, plus the best podcasts and new books…
Reality star turned TV presenter Vicki Pattison opens up about her dad’s alcoholism and how it has shaped her life in a new one-off C4 documentary, which also sees her explore her own issues with alcohol. Here, she reveals more…
Why did you want to make this documentary now?
I’ve wanted to make it in one form or another for years, but in retrospect, I was not in the right place to make it. I was still struggling with an awful lot of my own issues around alcohol. Who I am is shaped by my childhood and by my dad’s illness. I wanted people to understand why I was the way I was and also to understand alcoholism more as a disease. I think a part of me maybe wanted to understand it more as well.
Do we see a side of Vicki Pattison that we’ve never seen before?
This is the most raw I’ve ever been. I found a lot of it very painful. But I had to do it if I was going to come out the other side and have the answers I wanted, have the life I wanted and have the relationship
I wanted with my dad.
Tell us about that relationship…
A huge part of this is that I am probably what you would call an enabler. My dad tries hard, so I don’t want him to feel bad, but I realised I needed to stop placating him and enabling him, and open an honest line of communication where I’ll tell him how his drinking affected me and the family and just how much I want him to be around. It’s brought us closer together and our relationship is better than ever.
Do you have any advice for people worried about their relationship with alcohol?
It terrified me when I looked at why I drank. It was about being uncomfortable and unhappy and full of anxiety. Having a drink is not the answer. If you’re unhappy, remove yourself from the things, the people and the places that don’t bring you peace.
✱ Vicky Pattison: Alcohol, Dad and Me is on C4. Catch up on All 4.