08-03-2025
Top Boy star recalls daughter's heartbreaking words before he got sober
Ashley Walters candidly spoke about overcoming his alcohol problems on the new episode of The Jonathan Ross Show.
Airing on ITV1 on Saturday, 8 March, the talkshow welcomed BAFTA Fellowship winner Warwick Davis, This Country's Daisy May Cooper and Toxic Town's Jodie Whittaker onto the couch alongside Walters, whose big break took the form of hit crime drama Top Boy.
While promoting his autobiography - titled Always Winning and on sale this May - the actor recalled a heart-wrenching exchange with his daughter that coincided with getting sober five years ago.
"I am five years sober now," Walters told Ross, who'd been particularly struck by his guest's honesty in the upcoming book.
"I had a good 15 years out there, you know, drinking and partying and stuff like that. It took its toll on me; my body, it took a bit of a toll on my career, but more importantly my family - my wife and kids."
The Get Rich or Die Tryin' star then went on to detail a catalytic knock at the door that changed his life.
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"The day I decided to get help was the day my six-year-old daughter at the time knocked on my bedroom door and said that she didn't want me to live there anymore, and that was hard to take," he shared.
"It hit me in the heart, but for a lot of people suffering with addiction, your own rock bottom is your own rock bottom. It's like you're only gonna do it in your own time, no-one can tell you when to do it and for me that was it. Looking at my daughter and realising that I was damaging her in maybe the same way I'd already damaged my older children. I just wanted to change and literally the next day I stopped drinking, I stopped smoking."
Walters has four kids with his ex-partner and two with wife Danielle Walters.
In a recent interview with NME, Walters alluded to "maybe 5,000" traumatic events that contributed to his 15-year alcohol addiction, including being stabbed in the neck as a teen.
Apparently, his ability to remain professional during those dark times allowed it all to continue.
"People accept your bulls*** a lot of time – your attitude, your lateness – because when you deliver, you're still good at what you do," he told the publication. "So I was able to hide for many years like that."
He went on to say of his eventual sobriety: "Having a clear head and being able to focus and build some relationships that I broke through that period of my life has been probably the biggest factor in how I've been able to achieve everything I've been achieving."
His latest job on the small screen was to direct episodes of gritty Disney+ series A Thousand Blows.
The Jonathan Ross Show airs Saturdays on ITV1 and ITVX.
