19-05-2025
Golden Logie winner Samuel Johnson reveals how being the town postie has helped him with his battle with alcohol
Samuel Johnson has opened up about his decision to become the town postie and how his new career has helped him keep his drinking in check.
Last year, the Golden Logie winner, 47, who found fame as Evan Wylde in the TV series The Secret Life, revealed he was taking up work as a volunteer postman in Tallarook, Victoria.
He announced in July he would be working for Australia Post on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
The rural town has a small population of 950 people and is an hour north of Melbourne.
Samuel has now admitted that his new job helps him fight the urge to drink every night.
'The problem is, I really love alcohol. It's fun - but I like [it] a little bit too much,' he said on Australian Story.
'Having a postie round on Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning makes sure there's three nights of the week where I'm not misbehaving.'
Despite admitting that he's on the right track, he wasn't going to peddle a 'bullsh*t narrative' about his drinking.
'I'm a work in progress. There's no neat bow on the end. It's not a cold turkey kind of thing,' Samuel said.
'I had the angel and the devil, and they duked it out and the angel won.'
Samuel has long been open about his battle with alcohol following a series of tragic events.
The Daylesford-born star turned to drink to cope with the death of an ex-girlfriend in 2006 which he claims 'ruined' him emotionally.
Tragedy struck the Johnson family early on, as Samuel's mother committed suicide when he wasn't yet one year old, shortly after his father left her.
And in late 2005, a close female friend called Heather - with whom he performed in short films at the Victoria College of the Arts - also took her own life.
Tragically, just months later, Samuel's former girlfriend Lainie Woodlands committed suicide at her home at Victoria's Hepburn Springs.
'I kind of bailed on her and then she killed herself, which was charming, so considerate,' he told Meshel Laurie's Nitty Gritty Committee podcast last year.
'I was probably already not doing that well but when my girlfriend [killed] herself, the night that I left her, s*** got pretty heavy.'
He previously told ABC Radio Melbourne: 'The three key women in my life have left me. It floored me.
'You know, I mean, it's still floored me. It's just ruined me emotionally and I'm very sad now.'
As he struggled to cope with the grief, Samuel faced a bitter, two-month legal battle with Lainie's mother against her estranged father to have her buried in Hepburn Springs, near Daylesford.
Eventually, Lainie was laid to rest close to her chosen home - but due to legal costs and not working, Samuel was forced to sell his home in Daylesford and pay off debts.
'I was going downhill pretty quickly and I was certainly going through a very self-destructive kind of phase,' he revealed in tell-all ABC documentary The Sum Of Sam in 2008.
'We all want to mask the pain somehow in some way and, you know, I had my issues there and I think I already had a problem with alcohol before it happened but it certainly accelerated my usage.'
This downward spiral continued as Samuel self-medicated with drink and drugs, until he hit rock bottom in September 2007 while attending a wedding party with his partner Sarah Hallam at Star City Casino in Sydney.
The Underbelly star was involved in a drunken brawl with guest Ben Benson, punching him repeatedly before stomping on his head as he lay prone on the floor, the Sydney Morning Herald reported at the time.
The court heard Samuel was receiving treatment for depression following Lainie's death and magistrate Brian Maloney acknowledged that the violent attack was out of character.
Samuel faced even more tragedy in 2017, when his sister Connie Johnson lost her lengthy battle with cancer.
Connie was diagnosed with bone cancer at age 11, before uterine cancer at 22, before her death at age 33 from breast cancer.
Earlier this month, Samuel underwent a radical transformation in a heartfelt gesture to honour his late sister Connie.
He shaved his head during a recent community event for his charity Love Your Sister, which is dedicated to the memory of his sibling.
Samuel took to social media to share a series of photos capturing the emotional moment he shed his locks to raise money for the charity.
The event drew a large audience and marked a significant milestone in the ongoing fight against cancer, a cause dear to Samuel's heart.
He expressed his gratitude to supporters, emphasising the event's success was a testament to community solidarity.
'My sister Connie would be beyond proud right now,' Samuel wrote, reflecting on the charity's enduring impact.
'It's not over until we stop losing loved ones to cancer. We vanquish cancer with joy, together we are stronger.'
The event, which raised thousands of dollars, saw Sam humbly redirecting praise to the generous donors who made the achievement possible.
'Please don't hop into the comments and congratulate me,' he urged, echoing his sister's humility.
'It's YOU who need to be thanked, congratulated, loved and owed forever.'
