In short
Sarah Hiscox recounts how addiction (opioids/heroin) and bulimia shaped her life, and how her best friend Div helped her “begin again,” leading to sobriety, rebuilding trust, and publishing her memoir The Beginning and the End of Everything.
Guest backgrounds
Sarah Hiscox is a former opioid user and bulimia sufferer who later trained as a writer, earned a literary agent, secured a book deal, and released a memoir. Div is her longtime best friend (since age 19) and the interviewer; they have known each other for about 40 years.
Key claims
Sarah describes early opioid exposure (prescription sleeping pill Mogadon at age 8; later strong opioid pills around 12–13) and a trauma bond with Div. She says heroin “silenced” her internal self-loathing and made her feel “normal,” but eventually led to rehab failures, overdose, and losing custody of her children. She credits Div’s direct confrontation and ongoing support for her turning point, plus meetings and staying clean.
Notable examples
Div confronts Sarah in a winter car ride after noticing people talking and a “wall” from heroin; Sarah later overdoses and wakes to paramedic questions; after a letter from Sarah signaling humility/clean time, Div visits and they resume closeness; Sarah regains supervised contact after urine tests, eventually reading stories to her sons.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOIntroduction of Sarah Hiscox
1:12 to 1:46
Davina introduces her best friend Sarah Hiscox and their connection.
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Introduction of Sarah Hiscox
1:58 to 3:05
Davina introduces her best friend Sarah Hiscox and their connection.
“Oh my darling There was a big void in me I must have been 13 and I found some pills in the bathroom cabinet and they were very, very strong opioid.”
The Begin Again Story
3:06 to 4:19
Sarah shares her struggles with addiction and how she began again.
“This is Sarah Hiscox, and she is my best friend.”
Self-Esteem and Writing Journey
4:20 to 5:30
Discussion on Sarah's journey to becoming a writer and her self-worth issues.
“So, Sarah Hiscox, The Beginning and the End of Everything, out now.”
Childhood Experiences and Trauma Bond
5:31 to 6:50
Exploration of both hosts' childhood experiences and how they bonded.
“But central it's about centrally, it's about feelings of low self-esteem and low self-worth, which I've struggled with for all my life.”
Parenting and Its Effects
6:51 to 9:09
Discussion on the impact of parenting styles and childhood experiences.
“I grew up in London and then we moved to Suffolk when I was about eight.”
Introduction to Addiction
9:10 to 10:59
Sarah recounts her early experiences with addiction and its origins.
“good enough but then I I suffered from terrible nightmares I don't remember what they were but just not sleeping not sleeping so my mum remember I'm eight my mum took me to the local doctor and he gave me Mogadon.”
The Car Crash and Its Impact
11:00 to 13:20
Sarah explains the life-changing car crash and its repercussions.
“Then when I was a bit older, I found some pills.”
Recovery and New Beginnings
13:21 to 14:00
Insights on Sarah's recovery journey following her accident and addiction.
“were sort of okay superficial scars but i had um cut into the protective layer of my brain and so I had to be in hospital for a long time.”
Confronting Addiction: A Personal Story
14:00 to 21:25
A heartfelt discussion about confronting addiction and the pivotal moment of intervention between friends.
“Yeah so well I mean that's where you know that's where my begin again happened with you.”
Show all 31 chapters
The Journey of Beginning Again
21:25 to 25:48
Exploring the theme of starting over and the transformative power of support in recovery.
“How old were you when you married Renshaw?”
Struggles with Bulimia: A Hidden Battle
26:28 to 28:00
An open conversation about bulimia, shame, and the pressures surrounding body image.
“Okay, so that started in my early 20s, late teens, early 20s.”
Struggles with Body Image and Self-Disgust
28:00 to 29:59
Explore the impact of weight gain on self-esteem and the inner dialogue of self-loathing.
“I got very thin, but then I put on a lot of weight.”
Seeking Help and Understanding Addiction
30:00 to 32:24
Discuss the complexities of food addiction versus substance addiction and the internal struggles involved.
“You know, I have a complicated relationship with food.”
The Birth of Motherhood and Pure Love
32:25 to 34:10
Discover the transformative experience of becoming a mother and its emotional impact.
“I didn't have any book to say, okay, well, this is what you need to do.”
Isolation and the Fear of Inadequacy
34:11 to 36:09
Examine feelings of loneliness and inadequacy experienced by new mothers amidst their struggles.
“saying, I'm scared I'm going to be a terrible mother.”
First Experiences with Heroin
36:10 to 39:24
Recount the initial encounter with heroin and the allure it held as a coping mechanism.
“I thought the first time that you'd taken heroin was in India.”
The Downward Spiral of Addiction
39:25 to 41:43
Trace the descent into heroin addiction and the struggle to regain control over one's life.
“It wasn't like I was some crazed junkie that was behaving in an irrational way.”
Facing the Consequences of Addiction
41:44 to 42:00
Discuss the emotional impact of losing a loved one due to addiction and the feelings of hopelessness.
“It wasn't like every time I came out of rehab, I just thought, no, fuck it, I can't be bothered.”
The Pain of Addiction and Loss
42:00 to 44:20
Sarah shares her struggles with addiction and the impact on her family.
“And I couldn't understand why, because in the end, And Renshaw divorced me.”
Navigating Motherhood Amidst Addiction
44:20 to 46:30
Sarah discusses the challenges of being a mother while battling addiction.
“And then the three days on would just fill with this awful guilt, this terrible guilt of like, you know, who are you?”
Confrontation and Realization
46:30 to 48:56
Sarah recalls a painful confrontation with her friend about her drug use.
“You know, that's pretty, just to say that.”
The Overdose Experience
48:56 to 51:56
Sarah narrates her near-fatal overdose and its aftermath.
“And when I put the phone down from that, I thought...”
The Turning Point
51:56 to 54:48
A moment of clarity leads Sarah to find the determination to change.
“Like I remember saying, I'm sorry to him.”
Rebuilding Trust and Relationships
54:48 to 56:00
Sarah explains how she started to rebuild trust with her family after getting clean.
“That's so interesting, yeah, because I was so full of shit.”
Rebuilding Trust After Addiction
56:00 to 1:02:11
Learn about the journey of rebuilding trust after addiction and divorce.
“And when I got to that three month stage, I was allowed to come and read the children a story.”
A New Beginning: Marriage and Family
1:02:11 to 1:09:50
Discover the steps to building a new life, including remarriage and family dynamics.
“On the way home, I booked the removal van.”
Acknowledging Friendship and Support
1:09:50 to 1:10:08
Hear a heartfelt appreciation for friendship during tough times.
“But it's also, you know, you, Wrench and I have all known each other for so long.”
Reflections on Friendship and Support
1:10:08 to 1:12:02
Explore the deep bond between friends and how they supported each other through tough times.
“There has been, it's just extraordinary to look back on all those years, nearly 40 years of love and friendship.”
Heartfelt Messages and Family Bonds
1:12:02 to 1:14:00
Listen to a touching message reflecting on family impact and unconditional love.
“What if you've got something back there?”
Closing Thoughts and Reflections
1:14:00 to 1:14:33
Wrap-up reflecting on the emotional conversation and appreciation for each other.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00This episode is brought to you by Google Health. Stop chasing someone else's definition of health. What matters is what's healthy for you. Google Health offers a new kind of coach built with Gemini for effortless tracking, sleep insights and holistic coaching tailored to you. Visit GoogleStore.com to learn more and start a new relationship with your health. Requires Google account, Google Health app, Internet and Google Health premium subscription. Features subject to change. Availability and results vary. Not intended for medical purposes. Works independently of Gemini apps. Check responses for accuracy.
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1:31Athletic Brewing Company crafts award-winning non-alcoholic beers for those who want to be part of every round. With over 185 flavor awards, they're exceptional NA beers that fit your lifestyle and any social occasion. Summer's full of good times, and athletic fits right in. Go to athleticbrewing.com to have brews delivered to your door, or find them at a bar, restaurant, or store near you. Near Beer. Athletic Brewing Company. Fit for all times. People are going to think that I'm this terrible person because I chose heroin over my children I'm going to cry already and it's usually you that's crying Oh God Sarah Hiscox, you are my best friend I don't know if I'd be alive without you I remember meeting you and it was love at first sight You were taking heroin and I thought I was going to lose you Will you just tell the story where my begin again happened with you?
2:19Oh my darling There was a big void in me I must have been 13 and I found some pills in the bathroom cabinet and they were very, very strong opioid. And so I definitely remember being addicted to those. I don't know if I'd be alive without you. And so I was really worried when you went, I tried heroin for the first time. No, no, no, I'm not going to do it again. And that's how it was. God. Until it wasn't. In the end, my husband divorced me and took custody of the children. People lose their families all the time. But there is something about a mother losing her own children. I thought, I've got to try and start pulling a life back together.
3:04I'm going to read you something. Oh, God. Mum. Oh, God. Oh, God. Well, this is weird. Very weird. Yeah, yeah. This is Sarah Hiscox, and she is my best friend. And very importantly, you helped me begin again. Yeah. A profound begin again. Yeah. I don't know if I'd be alive without you. And I helped you begin again. In a very profound manner. And the same, I don't know if I'd be alive without you. I'm going to cry already. It's usually you that's crying. Oh, God. And also, I think that you are very inspirational for anybody out there who is just trying to find their things. So you have tried many different things to find out if that was going to be your creative outlet.
4:02Yeah. And I want to talk through that later. But you ended up taking a writing course. Yeah. You got a literary agent. Then you got a book deal and you have released a bloody book. A bloody book. Can you believe it? I know. Still can't quite believe it. Wow. Yeah. So, Sarah Hiscox, The Beginning and the End of Everything, out now. Yeah. Forward by some bird called Davina McCall. Never heard of her. No. Some old bag. No idea who she is. I don't think anybody's in the least bit interested either. It's the Sarah Hiscox bit they'll be looking at, not the Davina McCall bit. You megalomaniac. And you've got a little bit of a recommendation from Gillian Anderson on here.
4:49She very kindly gave me a quote, which is very generous of her. That's good. Very nice. Yeah, really lovely. But this is a massive achievement. Yes. I just want to say well done. It feels weird, though, you saying that. That doesn't sit comfortably with me, you saying that. I just want to talk about something else, which is ridiculous because that's why I'm here. Because it's that imposter syndrome thing of, well, I'm not a real writer. You know, it's I know because I've written a book and it's been published. Like how much more proof do I need? But I think that really is what the book. I mean, as you know, the book is about a lot more stuff.
5:32But central it's about centrally, it's about feelings of low self-esteem and low self-worth, which I've struggled with for all my life. That's really it, I think. And for me, it's the ultimate love story. Oh, and you're right. It is the ultimate love story. I mean, really, honestly, beyond all odds. I keep whenever against all odds, I think I keep thinking of that Phil Collins song. Take a look at me now. I would like to talk about how interesting it was seeing how autobiographical this is, how much about you having known you and been your best friend for 40 years. Yeah. How much I didn't know.
6:14I know, that's crazy, isn't it? It is weird. Oh, because we have had so many conversations, obviously, over the years, you know, deep, meaningful conversations. So that is strange, yeah. When I read about your childhood, and I think really when we became friends at 19, I just started our life from there. Yeah, well, so did I. And we didn't ask each other tons of questions about our childhood. We were just like, who are you now? You're my person. Let's go. But also we didn't have the emotional language then. But we did have a trauma bond. We did have a trauma bond. Our mothers. Our mothers. And they made us close from the get-go, I think.
6:55Yeah. Well, first off, where did you grow up? I grew up in London and then we moved to Suffolk when I was about eight. And I was definitely a kind of daddy's girl. I didn't get on with my mum. She was an alcoholic and not particularly brilliant at mothering. She prized sort of thinness and beauty above all. And there was a mantra that she used to say to my sister and I, which was laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you cry alone, which is which is not great for a small child. So basically, chin up, get on with it. Nobody's interested in your histrionics. Just smile and look pretty. And Manners was a big thing.
7:51And she was a terrible snob as well. You weren't allowed to say settee. We weren't allowed to read Enid Blyton books because she said they were badly written. And, I mean, she would have positively burst into flames if we'd used the word radio instead of wireless. I mean, yeah, it just goes on. Yeah, so weird. And she wasn't grand herself, so I don't know where that came from. But from very young, and it seems a lot, I mean, I know, you know, you have similar experience. And a lot of my girlfriends do this sort of 70s rather neglectful parenting. And I think that, you know, them being our parents, being the children of people, you know, who were alive during the war.
8:40And I don't know why that is, but it seems quite common, that kind of 70s neglectful parenting. And I want to be really careful not to blame her, because what I do know, and we've discussed this before, is that she absolutely did the best she could with what she had. she was unable to give anymore because she didn't have it in her you know so that I want to be careful not to not to blame her but there was from a very early age this feeling of not being good enough but then I I suffered from terrible nightmares I don't remember what they were but just not sleeping not sleeping so my mum remember I'm eight my mum took me to the local doctor and he gave me Mogadon.
9:30Now, I mean, again, I don't think I was fully aware that that had started for you so young. But no, is I? I mean, this is insane. I wasn't aware until I started writing the book. It just didn't, it was so normal in my house to just help yourself to pills. They were everywhere. So it didn't really occur to me. But I mean, you know, it's one thing to give a grown woman something like that. But an eight-year-old child, Mogadon was what, a downer? It's a very powerful sleeping pill. Right. You know, prescription-only sleeping pill. Yeah. That is not available anymore probably because it's so addictive and powerful.
10:15But then, I mean, it would just, you know, knock out a bloody horse. And I was a small eight-year-old girl and my mother didn't think twice about giving it to me. It had been sanctioned by a doctor, so it must be all right. So I remember taking the pill. I mean, it was like a gateway to something completely different. It was like having a big blanket wrapped around me. It was delicious. And I think I was prescribed him for a couple of weeks, two weeks of sleeping pills. I mean, nowadays they say... You would be completely addicted. Yeah, three days, they say now. But then two weeks is a long time.
10:54But anyway, two weeks and then the nightmares returning. Then when I was a bit older, I found some pills. So I must have been 12 or 13. And I found some pills in my dad's or in the bathroom cabinet and they were called palpheum. and they're a very, very strong opioid, very, very powerful, very fast acting. And I would take those when I got home from school. But again, they were in the bathroom cabinet along with my mum's Tampax and her Clinique toner, you know, so it was fine. And so I definitely remember being addicted to those when I was 13 and when they ran out becoming ill, you know, diarrhea.
11:48Wow. Wow. Stomachache. All of that stuff. But I didn't know what it was. Wow. You know, so. But again, it wasn't until I started writing the book that I remembered all that stuff. So when we met, let's just set this story up. Yeah. You and I met at a party. Yeah. And I remember meeting you and it was love at first sight. Yeah. And by the end of the party, I was like, I want to see you a lot more. Every day. Every day. Yeah. It was really funny. Yeah. Falling in love with a girl and being like, you're my person. This is it. And it was instant from then on. Now, before that, before I met you, because this is very key to our story, I think, you had been in a car crash.
12:38Can you just talk us through what had happened in the car crash? Yes. So I had just finished my A-levels at school and I had gone to Spain with two girlfriends to stay with people that we knew that were living out there near Malaga. And we were in a car coming home from a nightclub and we were going around a hairpin bend. you know there's really windy windy windy roads in the mountains in spain and we're on the wrong side of the road and basically we got knocked the car came around the bend and knocked us off and we fell down the side of a cliff and the car sort of crumpled up like paper and i the other two were sort of okay superficial scars but i had um cut into the protective layer of my brain and so I had to be in hospital for a long time.
13:37How long? I think I was in hospital for three months. How? But I wasn't because with a, well, I mean, as you know, with a head injury or brain injury, you have to be very careful. So I was told that I had to take, I had a place at art college that I was going to go to and I was told I had to take a year off from that to recover. no kind of going out late no partying no drugs I had to be really careful of all that stuff so obviously that was quite um that was quite difficult at that time because I was 18 and that's when everybody's celebrating and going and it's your start of your adulthood isn't it and also just remembering that this was around the time of like 1988 yeah um summer of love yeah um ecstasy was everywhere yeah everyone's like you know in the football terraces everywhere on this like it was huge raves those enormous raves illegal raves everywhere yeah and you couldn't no delve into any of that so for me who was in all of that yeah and i was on at the beginning of me going really mad yeah um you felt like my safe place yeah but you didn't feel safe or confident but to me I thought you were it was reading the book was such an eye opener for me knowing how you really felt back then but we both served we both served a purpose for each other maybe maybe you didn't know but I didn't really know I just saw you as this fabulous sort of peacock that I wanted to be more like you know and and that you you know you're you're when you turn your light on someone it's very warm there it feels good you know and so I felt I felt so happy that you you know that you did that for me and so the yeah but we were doing that for each other and also I did know your backstory and I could feel you know you were living in your dad's like cupboard basically in your dad and stepmother's flats in Olympia.
16:00Yeah so well I mean that's where you know that's where my begin again happened with you. Yeah. Just it's I mean it makes me laugh sometimes actually when you think about how it happened but will you just tell the story? Of how I confronted you. So what like I'd got bad. So you got bad and and I could tell that it wasn't just like a couple of you were taking heroin, you know, and that to me. Well, to most people with any sense is incredibly dangerous. And I thought I was going to lose you. And it wasn't just being the center of attention at a party or something much darker that had taken you over.
16:40And I was aware people talking about you behind your back. And I was aware that you were kind of sliding out of here. And I was losing myself. You were losing yourself. And you'd always, to me, one of the huge attractions of you to me was that you always seem so self-assured. You knew who you were. You knew who you were. You knew what you wanted. But then that suddenly seemed to go. and so I remember I was working for a PR company I'd been given tickets to Santana the Hammersmith Palais and I was like do you want to come you were like yeah alright I was like why would you but anyway I remember picking you up in my little mini metro outside your flat dad's flat and you getting in the car and me turning to you and saying listen I'm really worried about you can I just say something I'm love that I'm back there.
17:38I can feel it. I'm right back in that car as well. So weird. So weird. It was dark. It was winter. And I was like, what? Well, you were, it's funny because we have slightly different memories of it. Yes. Which is also strange. But I remember you being crumbling quite quickly because I think you were, you were scared. You realised. Well, I was a bit angry. You were a bit angry at the beginning. That you were talking to me about it. Like, how dare you? But then the minute I got out of the car, I mean, your memory, maybe I did crumble before. I mean, it was so long ago, right? But I cried all the way to the front door.
18:16But I was like, I can't let her see how broken I am. But I know I'm I know I'm fucked. And you were fucked. And I know this is the end. Yeah. I was so full of shame. You telling me that people were talking about me. It's hard that. was the thing that finished me off because I thought, oh, my God, I am the topic of conversation and I'm not there. I know. How awful. I hate that. I hate the idea that. And this sort of like slightly patronizing. Yeah. I heard about Davina. She's such a merciless. Yeah, she's a real, she lost it. And because also there is a, in some people, there is a glee in that.
18:58You know, I remember hearing in a meeting once, You can really tell how healthy you are by how you feel about your friend's success. Yes. And that's so true, you know. And so there was a glee in some people that, oh, dear, she's lost it, you know. But I was frightened for you. I did know that. Yeah. I did know that. There was no malice. No, that's why I confronted you. There was no malice. I wanted you to stop. I wanted you back because also I could feel, and you know what it's like with heroin, it puts a wall between you both and I could feel that wall. And I didn't want that there because you were the person that I spoke to.
19:39You were my person. You were mother, father, brother, sister to me. So I needed you back. So it was purely selfish, actually. so I remember that very well and that was a huge turning point for you I didn't use again, I went to a meeting the next day and that was it and I didn't drink again and I've never had to drink again it's a big deal thank you oh my darling
20:19I am I am so grateful I'm so grateful that you saw me yeah thank you and what's funny was when I said I was going to interview you to a couple of people that didn't know about your book and everything I said I'm interviewing my best friend and they went what the one from the car and because of on diary of a ceo when i did my interview i talked about you oh and that moment and how you changed my life there are there are moments that one remembers yeah huge moments that yeah that you begin again with yeah you know you can you can have more than one you can have I've had a few you've had a few you know but it is that willingness and to to try and begin again and also to and hope that it will be better as well and you and you had that and then then life just completely changed for you once well for us for us it was amazing once that's once you've taken that step it was yeah monumental thank you it's a pleasure well honestly you did the same.
21:32And you got married. Yeah, very young. Well, reasonably young, yeah. How old were you when you married Renshaw? I was 23 when I got married. So let's just talk about how you met and how annoying I was. I'm really sorry. Oh my God, you were so annoying. I mean, you were meant to be my friend. You humiliated me in front of my soon to be hopeful boyfriend so basically i'd i'd met i'd met renshaw and and was mad about him couldn't quite believe he was mad about me and i remember him taking him to your club quiet storm which was just like full of like the trendiest grooviest like was and i i was just you know i was on the guest list so it was a real like we should go to quiet storm i'm on the guest list and plus one you can be my past one you know it's a win for me and bringing him into the club I was so excited and you were so excited because obviously you knew all about it and what did you do can I show you what you did I so there you come towards us in the pvc or whatever you're wearing and and you come towards us and I'm like div this is renshaw renshaw this is div and you go oh my god oh my god I've had so much about you and I just stood back in absolute horror like what are you doing like you're meant to pretend I haven't even mentioned his name it's like all sense of being cool and nonchalant was gone but you did fall in love I did absolutely fall in love and so did he, love of my life and it was the most unbelievable thing to behold I've got to say as an outsider looking in I remember wishing and hoping that I might one day also enjoy a love like that.
23:28It was extraordinary. And your wedding was one of the most joyful days of my life. Well, when I think of you talking about the wedding, do you know what I see? What? I see you on the pole of the marquee in a really, really short kilt, Tiny, tiny kilt. Bobby socks and high heels. She hasn't moved on. Like pole dancing against the marquee. But I'm so glad you had fun. What I love about you is that you create your own fun. I remember being in a restaurant. I haven't stopped. I'm still doing the same. I remember for my 40th, we went to this restaurant. and they were taking a really long time bringing the food.
24:19There was like some issue in the kitchen, maybe they had a fire or something. And so everybody, we were like there for an hour, the food store won't come. You just start dancing and singing and it was like, she's just creating her own fun. Just leave her to it. No, I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. Thank God for that because it's not changing. I know and I never want it to change. I've partnered with Do Health for this episode and I want to tell you why. 46 % of Do Health members showed signs of hidden cardiovascular risk after doing their blood test. 46%. And do you know what? They had absolutely no idea.
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25:44Not more worry, it's a way forward. Go to dohealth.co slash beginagain and use code BEGIN AGAIN to lock in early access pricing. At REI Co-op, we've got the gear that makes camp easy. A tent that sets up in seconds. A chair you could fall asleep in. A cooler that keeps things chill. So you can get to the good stuff. Late night laughs. Endless stars. And stories you'll tell again and again. REI Co-op. Camp solved. Shop in-store or at REI.com. It was at around this time that you told me. Yeah. And this was heavy. Yeah. You were bulimic. Yeah. Yeah. When did that start? Okay, so that started in my early 20s, late teens, early 20s.
26:45It was something that I could do that nobody knew about that gave me some kind of relief from the feelings that I was feeling inside. and the interesting well the thing about bulimia is that people don't tend to talk about it because with anorexia which of course is a deadly disease yes there seems to be quite a lot of people talk about anorexia maybe because there is that sense of control around it with bulimia there's no control and it's deeply shameful you know that it's drug addicts i hear it in meetings tend to talk up their drug addiction. You know, like, oh man, I was so bad. I was, you know, sticking a needle in my eye.
27:28There is nothing glamorous or rock and roll about coming back from a party and eating sort of 17 M &S shortbread and then throwing it up. Like, there's no glamour there. And there's a disgust. And there's definitely a self-disgust. This idea of stuffing. Yeah. And then purging. And then putting your fingers down your throat and throwing it up. Yeah. It's disgusting. And it is disgusting. You know, so I kept that quiet for a long time, but it became very bad. You know, I was doing it very thin. I got very thin, but then I put on a lot of weight. So at first, I don't know if you remember, but I lost weight.
28:11This is working marvelously. And then because of the amount of food I was eating, I couldn't get rid of it. So I started putting on weight. And then that just spun me out and I couldn't understand why I wasn't losing weight. And then that feeling of the, like I said, the self-disgust, the hatefulness that I felt toward myself, the violence I felt towards myself was the way that I spoke to myself. Just like, you know, you're ugly, you're fat, you know, you're just this self-loathing, this absolute disgust at myself. and I put on the weight very quickly after that. And also your face becomes puffy.
28:58I mean, your body's just trying to probably hold on to any kind of nutrition. Yeah, because it thinks it's dying. You're going to get rid of it, so it's holding on to everything. And I was thinking the other day, my God, if I spoke to my children the way that I spoke to myself during that time, they would have been taken away from me. I mean, imagine if one of your daughters came up to you and said, I hate myself. I hate the way I look. I disgust myself. Yes. You would just put your arms around them like, we're going to get you any kind of help we can. But that's... You didn't tell anybody. I didn't tell anyone.
29:37But then I told you. Yeah. And you were the only person I told. And the thing was that the difficult thing with food, which is different from drugs and alcohol, is that with drugs and alcohol, you're abstinent from them. With food, you can't. You've got to eat. So it's really hard. And it's not lost on me now that I'm the thinnest person I know. You know, I have a complicated relationship with food. I still do. I have to be very careful about what I eat, when I eat. I don't stop myself from eating the things that I want. But I'm just mindful because honestly, the bulimia was so much worse in many ways than the drug addiction.
30:28Yeah, really. Although the consequences, the outside consequences for the heroin addiction were much bigger. But the internal consequences are terrible. Yeah, it's the shame. And shame keeps people quiet. It keeps people silent. Yes. So if you don't shine a light on it by talking about it, it just grows in the corner, which is what happened. So I didn't get help. So at the time, you know, you on paper, it looks like your life is going brilliantly. Yeah. You've done art college. Yeah. You've met Ranshaw. Yeah. Getting married. You're getting married. But that isn't healing you. No. Why not? Because it's an inside job.
31:15You know, it's a void that within that is within me. I remember listening, watching one of your begin agains with Spencer Matthews and he was talking about his addiction. And he was saying that when he met his wife, it made him want to be a better person. And he stopped. That was the opposite from I didn't have that experience. That was not my experience. my experience was that if I wasn't all right he would leave me you know so I had to keep all these things undercover if I wasn't thin enough if I wasn't pretty enough if I wasn't clever enough if I wasn't funny enough that's your mum yeah then he he was going to leave me and oh my god he might find out anytime anytime he's gonna I'm an imposter he's gonna find out who I really am And if he knew how I felt about myself, he'd be off in a minute.
32:09So I had to keep these things truly hidden. And like I said, when they're hidden, that's when it's poisonous and it goes bad. So there was this, it just felt like a big void in me. And I tried filling it with Renshaw, with food, with, I don't know, a new pair of jeans. But nothing works. because that's not how you fill it. That's not what happens. I didn't know that then. I didn't have any book to say, okay, well, this is what you need to do. And so I just felt, well, I'm going to get pregnant one day and that'll stop because when I have a baby, then everything's going to be fine. And then I had a baby.
32:59and honestly when he was born your godson Linus all that all those feelings I'd felt all my life all my life about not being enough not this enough not that enough disappeared this tiny thing of perfectness of beauty and purity and the love that you have for a baby is so different from any kind of love because the love that I experienced before was either my parents which was very complicated love hate Renshaw loved him but there's always jealousies and others there's so there's so much more in that word of love but with your child it's pure yeah it's just love and I'd never experienced that before and it was overwhelming and and I remember staring at him on the bed and just being quite overwhelmed with that feeling of love.
33:59And that, you know, lasted. And then motherhood, I was scared of being a mother because I'd not been mothered very well myself. I remember calling my sister, Belinda, and saying, I'm scared I'm going to be a terrible mother. And she said to me, whatever our mum did, Just do the opposite. And that seemed like a really good place to start. I was like, okay, that's good. That makes sense. And I thought, well, if I just love him, you know, nothing else matters. But I was young. Everyone was on these, my bestest friend in the whole world was on this massive career trajectory. Because I'd started working on MTV.
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34:40You were on MTV. Yeah. And traveling. Traveling, having an exciting, glamorous life. I hadn't thought about what that must be like if you're at home with a baby. I was jealous. I was jealous of you. I was envious. It's funny because I wanted your life. I know. But it's that thing of it's never enough. What you haven't got. And I just felt so lonely. Renshaw was doing a degree in architecture. I think it was his final year. So he was away most of the time. or at work most of the time and I was at home with Linus on my own you know making shepherd's pie watching the tweenies and I just felt completely isolated and that void of you're not enough you just you know you're just not enough you know that opened up again and I didn't know how to fill it and I was really scared about bulimia which I was still making myself sick then not as much but it was just a feeling of hopelessness like I don't know where to go with this empty feeling and and and even while I'm saying it to you now I'm thinking god you sound just like a spoil bitch you know but it it wasn't about that it was about in internally what was going on inside well like you said earlier it's an inside job good and bad yeah it's all in here yeah and it doesn't matter what's happening on the outside if you're not well in here you can't enjoy anything no so I got a part-time job and it was working with somebody who was taking heroin they were people that worked sort of in and around the kind of fashion industry and there was an element of excitement and danger to these people because they took heroin.
36:45I thought the first time that you'd taken heroin was in India. It was. Oh, okay. It was. It was in India. So, because that, I think that is the story worth telling because you and I had lunch at Models One. You might not remember this, but you came to Models One. Yeah. And we went out for coffee at World's End. Yeah. And we went to go and have lunch. and you'd come back from India. I was like, how was it? Was it good? And you went, yeah, it was amazing. Then we were chatting away and you went, I tried heroin for the first time. And I went, what? And I was like, why did you do that? And you went, no, no, no, I'm not going to do it again.
37:27I just, I just, you know, I just tried it. And you were like, I mean, me and Wrench both tried it and we're definitely not going to do it again. And I was thinking to myself, but you know what it did to me. I know. Why would you do that? But I didn't say it out loud because I thought, well, let's just wait and see. But I was really worried after that lunch. We did try in India and I had built it up into this thing because of you, because of other people we knew that had problems, lost their life to it. And so it was something that was very scary for me. I mean sort of drugs were quite scary for me really because like 10 years with no drugs no drugs and and also I didn't like the idea of not being in control or something like I didn't like but what if I think I've got wings and I want to fly off or yes what if I go mad that was the thing I couldn't control my thoughts yes and also you've been told by the doctor not to do anything mood altering because it would be dangerous exactly that is a reality that you think could happen Absolutely.
38:34So heroin was always, well, heroin was something obviously I'd had the experience with you, but also kind of Zamo in Grange Hill, you know, people, people sell their grandmother, you know. So I was like, oh, I'm not going to do that. And then we did end up doing it in India. And I have to say that the first time I did it, I was very sick, really sick, like I'd been poisoned. Well, I had been poisoned. And the moment the sickness finished, I was like, I want to do it again. But the thing about it is, for me, was all those things, the pills, the food, they work to a certain extent on filling the void, making me feel as good as.
39:17Momentarily. Momentarily, not really. Yeah, it didn't really do the job. Heroin did the job. I mean, it was like that whole just went. And I was normal. It wasn't like I was some crazed junkie that was behaving in an irrational way. I just felt normal. Like, oh, my God, this is how normal people feel. This is how they cope in their life without those voices of your shit, your fat, your thing, your stupid. Yes. You know, all the voices just disappeared. And so I was in. I was in. But like you said, I just thought, but I'm I'm going to be the one in control of this. And that that that shit that happened to you isn't going to happen to me.
40:06She's an addict. Yeah, she's an addict. I'm not. And I've got a baby and a husband and a house and a life and a life. If I could just do this alongside those things, I don't need that career that you've got. I don't need to have an MA in philosophy. You know, I'll be all right. And that's how it was. God. Until it wasn't. How bad did it get? It got really bad. So I had gone to rehabs. You know, I was in a very privileged position that my husband could afford to send me to rehabs and pay for therapists. And I did those things. And that didn't stop me using. Why not? Because I, it's such a good question that.
41:06Why not? because I wasn't ready. I mean, how ready do you need to be? But that void kept opening up every time I stopped. And now I knew how to fill it. And even though I could see my life crashing around me, it just didn't seem like an option. It felt like, I mean, this is the most ridiculous thing to say, and I know it doesn't make sense, and I know that it's not true, but it almost felt like there was this malevolent spirit had taken over and it was making me do things that I didn't want to do. I just tried. It wasn't like every time I came out of rehab, I just thought, no, fuck it, I can't be bothered.
41:50I tried so hard every day. I'm not going to use, I'm not going to use. And then something would, a switch would go and the choice had been taken away from me. And I couldn't understand why, because in the end, And Renshaw divorced me. You loved Renshaw. Yes. You still loved Renshaw, even though you were using. Yeah. And you knew if you didn't stop using. I would lose him. You would lose him. Yeah. But still, you couldn't stop. I couldn't stop. And what was it like? When did you know he was going to say it? He'd given me so many chances. and I had almost given up on myself and thought I didn't have the courage to take my own life I couldn't see a life in which I wasn't using heroin I couldn't because I couldn't do it I tried so many times I couldn't do it so obviously wasn't capable of it um and then one day he called me and we met up we weren't living together at that time I don't I don't know where I think maybe I was at my sister's I can't remember and he spoke to me and he said it's like they've been it's like you've had a lover I've lost you to someone else but instead of a man it's heroin and I can't do this anymore Sarah now I can't oh god he said I can't I'm worried that I'm going to end up bringing the children to, you know, a grave and I can't do that to them.
43:28I have to look after them. And so he said, you know, that's it. I can't, you know, you don't seem to want to do it. So, and I remember screaming inside thinking, no, no, I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. And I remember him saying, because we had two sons then, Linus, who must have been four, and Beach, who was one, and him saying, I'm going to have to tell Linus. And I just didn't want him to tell Linus because I knew, oh, it was just awful. And when he left that pub, after he said, you better get a lawyer because I'm going to divorce you and I'm going to take custody of the children, that sort of sense of hopelessness but then within that hopelessness a tiny little flame of hope of like I'm going to do it this time I'm going to do it I remember walking past the house our old family house where he still lived with the children and I remember him thinking he'd be upstairs with Linus you know reading a story and it should be me that was in there and I just didn't the house was just there it was just me and this the house and how to get from where I was outside the house into the house and it seems so simple just stop taking heroin just stop taking it you stupid woman and I just couldn't fucking do it you know and but again that feeling of like I'm going to do it I'm going to do it and not doing it can I ask you something you mentioned beach there your second son how did you navigate being clean with him with him i imposed this very strict rule on myself that i would use three days on three days off because somebody told me not a doctor obviously um that the baby wouldn't be born addicted to heroin so that's what i did and it was those three days off, all I could think about was those three days on.
45:38And then the three days on would just fill with this awful guilt, this terrible guilt of like, you know, who are you? Why is the love of your children not enough? Like, why isn't it enough? And I don't know why it wasn't enough, but I do know that addiction is, you hear it all the time. You know, people lose their families all the time. But there is something about a mother losing her own children. People judge that very harshly. So I was also scared to get help because people would be so disapproving, so shocked, like she's a mother. and and I think that's what I think that's what keeps a lot of women and mothers quiet because it's the shame of it addiction is more powerful than anything and it's difficult for people to understand and I I can see that because as I'm saying it I'm thinking oh my god people if they watch this they're going to think that I'm this terrible person because I chose heroin over my children, which I did, you know, and then I was only allowed to see them with supervised contact.
46:53You know, that's pretty, just to say that. In the end, Renshaw had gone, the children had gone, my sister had gone, my mother had gone. I don't speak to my father. You were the only one I had left. I could still call you up and say, oh, poor me, poor me. And you give me slightly short shrift. And then I remember coming to stay at your house for the weekend. And I was using at that time and I knew I couldn't use heroin because you bloody know. So I took a bottle of methadone. And when I left and I hated the weekend because you were this like happy family. You had this great career, this wonderful husband, this wonderful house, like, you know, perfect family.
47:45and I was this person that was only and the only, I was only allowed to be there with my children because you were the supervised contact at that point. Renshaw had allowed it. And I took methadone with me which is a prescription medicine that the doctor will give you to ease withdrawal symptoms to help stop using. And I left a bottle of it in the bin and then do you remember you called me out? Yeah. And you went ballistic, didn't you? And you were like, that's it, I'm done. I'm done, I'm done. If you're ready to get clean, I'm here. And that was very painful for me. Because I just thought, like, I think I was like, I mean, I hadn't seen methadone for years.
48:36And there was some in it. Yeah. There was, like, some in the bottom. And I was like, what did I do with it? It was like a nuclear kind of... I was like, wah, wah. Yeah, quick. I needed to drive to Oxfad to put it in a public bin so I couldn't go and get it out of a bin. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah, I do know what you mean. It was like danger. And when I put the phone down from that, I thought...
49:12I wonder if she's going to make it. Mmm.
49:18I'm really scared. Because I thought I'm the only one she's got left. And I've just cut her loose. Like, is this going to be it? Is she going to not make it? Because you've done all the treatment centres. Yeah, it was the end. Like it was really feeling desperate. And, you know, I could see, Renshaw still loved you. And I still loved him. He didn't know what to do. He was like, I... He had to protect the children. Nothing's working. So I just put the phone down and just prayed, please take care of Sarah. Like, please do something, something, change.
50:12So what happened then? After that? Yeah. I mean, I carry on using for a bit. I overdosed. That was really scary. I ended up in some hostel in Earl's Court. Fuck. I know. And with two people and who I didn't really know, one I did, one person I'd met in treatment and the other person I didn't know. And she had, she had, I think she did have three children. They'd all been adopted now. She'd less than more. It was really bad. And I was using, and I'd never used needles before. and she said to me, well, you're not smoking it. If you want it, you're going to have to use a needle. But by this stage, I didn't give a fuck.
51:08I was like, whatever, just do it. And I overdosed and I ended up, I remember waking up in an ambulance and a paramedic saying to me, who's the prime minister? How many fingers am I holding up? Who's the prime minister? And I didn't know what had happened to me and told me you've overdosed. and this fear gripped me of, oh my God, am I going to die? Because I had no control now. I'd taken the drug. I didn't know how it worked. Like, am I going to die now? And they took me on a stretcher into a room where I think I was injected with adrenaline or something and the doctor there was quite harsh with me.
51:51I was wasting their time. Like there were people who are really sick and need them And here was I, some stupid junkie overdosed and they were having to, that's how I felt. Like I remember saying, I'm sorry to him. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. And I was crying because I was frightened. I was crying because I was frightened. And I thought, how have I let it get? How is it? How has it got to this? Like how? Like nobody else is doing this. Nobody else is making me do these things. I'm doing this. Couldn't understand how I'd let it get this far. And he was very sweet and said, do you really want to stop? Yes, I really want to stop.
52:31You know, he gave me some pamphlets or something. And it came out of the hospital. And I remember sitting on a bench and just feeling so utterly hopeless, looking at the pamphlets, thinking it's too late, you know, that it's just too late. And then going off and scoring again. And I mean, the insanity of it, the absolute insanity. But it did give me a fright. And, you know, a couple of other things happened. But I'd sort of come to a decision, even, I can't really explain it. I didn't have this epiphany. I didn't fall to my knees and have some spiritual awakening. where I thought I've given up, you know, I've stopped.
53:25No, I never had that. But I think you just don't stop trying. I didn't stop trying. Even though there were times of hopelessness. Yes. There was still, I always think of it as like I was on this merry-go-round, it was like a misery go-round, around and around on the misery round and these exit signs flash up. And you either take them or you don't. But you don't know when the next one's coming or if the next one's coming. Oh, my God, that's a very, very good visualization. And I kept missing those exit signs, being seeing them, but just missing them. And I just took one and I stopped. And one day turned into, I didn't go to treatment.
54:17and I did go to meetings. I did go to one of my meetings and at that point, if somebody had said to me, you need to stand in the corner upside down in a bucket of pig's will for 48 hours to stay clean, I'd be like, yeah, okay, I'm doing it. That's whatever it takes. I was the same. Yeah. When I was ready, I'd have done anything. But what's so weird, Div, is why I was ready then and not earlier. I don't know. I just don't know but I do know if you just keep trying keep trying never give up it does work yeah do you know what you wrote me a letter I don't know if you remember this I do remember writing you a letter yeah but I don't remember you wrote me a letter and I got it and this was after you know I'd said right contact me when you're when you're willing to get clean yeah but you wrote me a letter oh my tits nearly hanging out nice were you enjoying that yeah it's what I'm used to that's what we're all used to
55:18that I read the letter and I was like, she's clean. I knew from the letter. What did I say in the letter? You were humble. Oh, okay. That's so interesting, yeah, because I was so full of shit. It was a completely different you. It was an old you. Yeah. It was like reading a letter from my old friend. You could say I was back. Totally. Yeah, that malevolent spirit had gone. Yeah, and I called you immediately. Yeah. And I was like, you're clean. And you went, how do you know? And I said, you're humble. And you were like, I am. And I was like, right, I'm coming. It was like wild horses couldn't keep me away.
55:56I was like, get me to you immediately. Came to your flat. I remember being at your flat and us just being straight back to normal again. You were so different. Yeah. So different. It was incredible. and I was all in like we're here right back together again yeah um like like we'd never been apart like we'd never been apart so what happened then because you obviously had had no contact with the kids no Wenshaw had given up on you Wenshaw had given up on me so how did you start to rebuild the trust with Wenshaw primarily from staying clean yeah and like you said you know when somebody's clean or not you know so he knew and I was allowed to come and say good night to the children and read them a story when I was three months clean I'd had dream that'd be my dream outside the house exactly that had been my dream and just just to say to preempt that that for that three months I'd had to have urine tests by the doctor to show Renshaw that I was clean Right.
57:09And when I got to that three month stage, I was allowed to come and read the children a story. Sometimes I'd stay for supper.
57:20Yeah. Sometimes he cooked me supper in my old home with the children upstairs. Yeah. Like, wow. Sometimes after a while we'd end up in bed together. and I... Wait, wait. Yes. What, like having sex? Having sex. Yeah. Sorry, Renshaw. He won't watch this. He won't watch it. No, okay. It's fine. We can talk about it. It's fine. You'll never know. But what... Did he ever make you any promises then? Never. In fact, I was... I always thought once I'd clean, I had this dream that we'd get back together because usually when people divorce, So it's because, you know, there's been adultery or they've fallen out of love with each other.
58:05But that wasn't the case with us. No, it wasn't. We still loved each other. But yes, there was this huge other bloody great thing. Yes. And now that thing had gone, we hoped. So the love was still there, but there was the trust needed to be damaged. It was damaged. Exactly. And then it slightly changed because then they were allowed after. I can't remember how many months, six or nine months, they were then allowed to stay with me. So he would come around and read them a story. Now, bear in mind, I hadn't been out for about three years. You know, my going out involved going to a meeting and somebody had called me up and said, did I want to go to some kind of sprauncy event at the V &A?
58:52And I said, yes, terrified, terrified terrified and I remember getting all dressed up I didn't know I hadn't dressed up for so long I didn't know what to wear I didn't even know what I liked anymore I was like oh god I look ridiculous you know and he came around to say good night and read the children's story to my flat and I opened the door and I was all doled up and he was like bloody hell where are you going I said well I'm going to this you know sponzy event and he said as you know he loves motorbikes and he said, do you want me to take you on the bike? Because it'll be a nightmare, the traffic, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
59:28And I remember thinking, oh, God. Because I remember he'd said to me before, it's not going to happen again. Oh, my God. Huge part of the story I missed. The day before the decree absolute had come through. I remember calling him and saying, oh, my God, the absolute's come through. That's it. It's over. That's it. So bear in mind, the divorce was done. It was dusted yesterday. Today, that's why I went out. I thought I cannot sit in my flat being miserable. I've got to get it. I've got to try and start pulling a life back together that doesn't involve wrench for myself. So he comes around. Oh, do you want to lift the V &A?
1:00:09Yes. OK. And we walked in and I just remember being met by this kind of sea of glamour. And I just thought I can't. I just kind of I cannot deal with this. I'm not ready for this yet. So I said, I can't do it, Wrench. I can't do it. And he said, let's go out for dinner. I was like, why would we do that? And he said, to celebrate the end of our marriage, to celebrate the divorce. And I was like, oh, I don't know if I can do that. But I just wanted to be with him. So I was like, I feel a bit weird about it, but okay. and he went to this restaurant that we had a relationship with, but, you know, birthdays, anniversaries.
1:00:52We would go to this restaurant and we went there and I said, it was a Friday night, you'll never get a table. And he got a table. So we walked into the restaurant, sat down. I felt very sad, you know, because I wanted to be with this man and here we were celebrating our divorce. And he said something I need to tell you. and I was like, oh my God, he's met someone else, you know, some like supermodel and, you know, still those old messages, you're not good enough, you're not good enough. I thought, oh God, here we go. I don't know if I can cope with this. And he said, do you want to try again? And I was like, what?
1:01:34What? And he said, do you want to try again? And I said, yes. Absolutely, yes. But I said also, do you think that we'll be able to? So much has happened. There's so much water under the bridge. Can you forgive me? You know, can we forgive each other in some instances? And he was like, well, let's try. Yes, Redshaw! Oh, my God. So that's what we did. And how did that work? I moved back into the family home. Wow. How quickly? Oh, like by the weekend. You know, I booked. On the way home, I booked the removal van. I was like, I'm not wasting any time here. He might change his mind. Oh, my God. So, booked the removal van.
1:02:30I was in there. You know, the dinner was on the Friday. I was in there on the Saturday. I have never been more happy. Oh, God, nor have I. I knew the work that you had to do, both of you, to make it work. Yeah. But I had no doubt in my mind that you would do it. I had doubt. Did you? No. Not that there was love, but I thought, was there just so much? Is he going to throw stuff at me when we're angry? He did a bit. He did a bit at the beginning. He did a bit at the beginning. I'm not surprised. Fair enough, you know. I had to eat humble pie a lot. And can I just say also, well done, because you really did.
1:03:15I did, yeah. And you never fought back. No. And you were, you know, that was a lot. It was a lot. Because you'd done so well. And there you were eating humble pie, even though you were doing so well. Well, yeah. There was a lot to make up for. But you were aware of that. I was aware of that. And I knew that. And I knew that it was worth giving it a chance. So, you know, that the relationship is going to be slightly different. And he was making that I didn't I didn't have a voice yet in our back when we had that second chance. I still was trying to find my voice. I didn't feel I had it yet. And if I earned it yet.
1:03:56But I really wanted to have another baby. And he was very anti that at the beginning and said, you know, the children who are a bit bigger than they've gone through. so much we're getting to the stage where they're now at school all day we can have more of a life to what for us like why don't you know do we really want to go back to babies but but for me there was a space at the table yeah and it was also you'd be clean I'd be clean and I hadn't had that no and I wanted to do that all the the cake sales and the swimming galas and the PTA I wanted to do that because I hadn't been able to do that before.
1:04:39And it was really important to me to do that. Anyway, I got pregnant. How did I manage that? And he was very happy about it. And then we had Lucy, who's now 20, who healed so much. You know, I felt she was such a gift that I didn't really deserve. But I was given this another chance. And amazing to be able to parent in a way that I wasn't before. It was, I was just so grateful for that. I felt so lucky. And now looking at the three of them, can't imagine life without Lucy. That's such a weird concept. That little pocket rocket. Yeah. And then I remember you being like, I want to get remarried after you'd had Lucy.
1:05:39And I remember thinking, I really want them to get married. And like, I remember saying to Rentshaw, do you think you might ask her? He'd go, Div, it's none of your business. It's none of your business. I think, God damn it. I can't, you know, I can't like. I know, but don't you remember we went away from my. To New York. To New York, my 40th. And one day he said to you, listen, I want to take Sarah. I think we went for three nights. I want to take Sarah on my own tonight. And we were like, he's definitely going to ask me. He's definitely going to ask me. And I was like, oh, my God, he's definitely going to ask me.
1:06:21I couldn't wait. And we get to the restaurant. And I was like, OK, come on. And he said, I know you think I'm going to ask you to know, but I'm not. I'm going to ask you when I want to ask you, not when you and Davina. I was like, oh, that's terribly disappointing. I was like, oh, no, I remember saying to you, we were like, what? What the hell? I've gone to the other side of the world for this. I'm not even going to bloody do it. I couldn't believe it. And so I'd sort of given up on that. I think we both had. Yeah, we both had. And then it was Christmas. How many years ago was it? Well, if Lucy's 20 now, it must have been like 16 years ago, maybe 17 years ago.
1:07:06It was Christmas and we were all on the bed, me, Wrench and the three kids, and they were opening their stockings, their Christmas stockings, and Wrench had done me a stocking. and one of the last presents was a wedding ring, that wedding ring. And he said, will you marry me? And I was like, oh, I don't know why I'm crying. I know because I was so happy. I know. So a few months later, we had a very, very small wedding. the only friends of mine that were there were you and your husband and children and Renshaw and his brothers and me and my brother and sister and that was it because my parents weren't there Linus walked me down the aisle and gave me away god it was brilliant little beachy red the velveteen rabbit and Lucy was bridesmaid and it was yeah it was magical it was perfect It was really perfect.
1:08:12It was the most up. But what I remember is that, so how clean must I have been then? Like, I don't know, six, seven years clean or something around that. Like, you know, a while. And we've been back together, obviously, for a while. But I remember getting to, being absolutely fine, excited about the wedding, and then getting to the door of the church where Linus was waiting for me. and seeing him and just losing it. Like I couldn't, I just couldn't stop crying. I don't know if you remember. I just thought I'm not going to be able to get down the aisle and I'm not a big, big crier like you. Like you.
1:08:55I can cry but I just, and I do quite enjoy crying, but I just, I couldn't stop crying. No, it was like a big release. It was like all the things that had happened over the years and so much had happened. Yes. It just felt overwhelming. It felt too much. Yes. And then getting to managing and sort of Linus hanging on, sort of looking at me like, are you all right, mum? And then just sort of seeing Wrench at the end of the aisle and thinking, oh God, there he is, you know. And here we are. After everything. After everything, here we are. Literally. The beginning and end of everything. And that is the story, yeah.
1:09:39It is the most incredible love story. It is. That you withstood all of that. Yeah. And you are still so in love. Still so in love. But it's also, you know, you, Wrench and I have all known each other for so long. Yeah. And we have all been through so much, you know, more recently with you in your boobs, in your brain. There has been, it's just extraordinary to look back on all those years, nearly 40 years of love and friendship. Can I just say something actually? Just publicly I'm going to acknowledge. Oh God. I couldn't have got through last year without you. I was really lost. It was very frightening.
1:10:35you you kept me grounded i i was really in danger of losing my mind and um i couldn't have got through it without you i'm so unbelievably grateful to you for that thank you well i love you i love you more and the thing is that we both being through those things where we thought we were going to lose each other you know when you had that brain tumour I that it seemed to me there was a very real possibility that yeah something terrible would happen yeah and there is nothing like something like that where things come into focus so clearly and you see what's important and all that past that we have had with each other just comes so and suddenly nothing else matters yeah and um and like going through everything with my dad and like you've just you are in the fabric of my life your children I said that in the forward yeah your children are in my DNA yeah if anything happened to you and Wrenchall I'm taking them all on yeah you are like it's the same and we are family we are family we are family and sometimes chosen family and we've discussed this before but how chosen family It can be so much closer, more important.
1:11:56I mean, definitely, you know, with my parents. So, Sarah, I want to end on something. What if you've got something back there? Yeah. Oh, my God. What is it? An Amazon token. No.
1:12:14I'm going to read you something. Oh, God. Okay.
1:12:20Are you ready? Yeah.
1:12:25mum oh god oh god it's very difficult to know what to say to someone who's given us so much i'm welling up just thinking about it i know mum often worries that her troubled years have fucked us up that what she did way back then had a negative impact on our future lives But I'm sitting here, planning a wedding, with the woman of my dreams, trying to find the time in and around the job of my dreams. Beach is sitting in Paris, doing all the things we know he dreamed of doing. And Lucy is living all of our dreams, just having fun at uni without a care in the world. all I know of you is that you've given your life to us every day I can remember you've made us feel safe and loved and we've not questioned that ever for one second you didn't fuck us up you made our dreams come true
1:13:39we all cried when we read that oh my god Linus is an amazing writer isn't he yeah such a gentle soul um oh that's so lovely thank you that's for you oh thank you so much oh dear thank you Sarah oh well thank you for asking me it's so funny because I thought I thought it's going to be so weird because like we're friends like we just like I want to chat about things that we can't talk about in front of the camera I don't want to talk about me and you and what but actually it's been incredible it's been so moving and I think because you you know you were there it's not like I've I've literally loved it so much it's so funny with round of applause everybody please well thank you everyone so just in case you missed this episode here if you love this episode I know you're going to love that you need to prep your space Shop now and save up to 70 % off during Wayfair's 4th of July clearance.
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From the publisher
What if your ‘begin again’ moment comes after you lose everything your marriage, your children, your best friend, and almost yourself?
Sarah Hiscox is Davina’s best friend of nearly 40 years, but this is a side of their story that has never been told like this before.
In this episode of Begin Again, Sarah Hiscox joins Davina to talk about friendship, addiction, shame, motherhood, recovery, love, and the long road back to herself.
Sarah opens up about growing up with low self-worth, an alcoholic mother, and a childhood where difficult feelings were pushed down rather than spoken about. She reflects on the early experiences that shaped her relationship with shame, food, pills, and eventually heroin.
Davina and Sarah also revisit the moment their friendship changed both of their lives, from Sarah confronting Davina about her drug use, to Davina later having to draw a painful boundary when Sarah’s own addiction had taken hold. Together, they speak honestly about what it means to love someone through addiction, while also knowing you cannot save them unless they are ready to save themselves.
Sarah shares the devastating reality of losing her marriage, her children, and almost her life to heroin addiction, as well as the moment she finally found a way to begin again. She talks about getting clean, rebuilding trust with her children, finding her way back to her husband Renshaw, and learning how to become the mother she had always wanted to be.
This is also a conversation about creativity, self-belief, and finally finding your voice. Sarah discusses writing her debut novel, The Beginning and the End of Everything, and why becoming an author has been one of the most meaningful chapters of her life.
At its heart, this is a story about love in all its forms: friendship, marriage, motherhood, forgiveness, and chosen family.
Sarah Hiscox reminds us that even after shame, addiction and loss, it is possible to come home to yourself, and to the people who never stopped loving you.
This episode contains conversations about addiction, eating disorders, overdose and recovery, please watch with care.
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