X-Factor's Janet Devlin reveals battle with alcohol and suicide attempt when she was a teenager in Sheffield
and live on Freeview channel 276
The Northern Ireland-born songbird was just 16 when she auditioned for the ITV show, eventually coming fifth in the talent competition.
She told ITV's Loose Women: "I moved to Sheffield on my own and I was 17 and in those days life was so hectic and it was amazing but at the end of the day, when you get home you're on your own in an apartment in a different country where you know nobody, so it was very isolating and when I was in social situations I did turn to alcohol to give me a bitof a confidence boost.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad"I would definitely say at about 18 I had a definite problem."Asked how she knew she had an issue, Devlin said it was because of the "failed suicide attempt", adding: "I don't know the exact moment when it got really dark but I pretty much just woke up one day with a bottle of gin under my pillow.
"Every day before going to work I would have to get drunk, at night I would have to get drunk, it really quickly went very downhill for me."Asked if her family knew about her attempt to take her own life, Janet Devlin said: "My family didn't know at the time and most of them werenever planned."My poor mum was always just waiting on that phone call to find out when I finally was gone.”