The Traitors star Harriet Tyce has been candid about her 34-year battle with alcohol and how she lost four stone after quitting booze in 2022
Karen Price Assistant Editor of Screen Time and Rebecca Jones
17:58, 15 Jan 2026
BBC The Traitors star Harriet Tyce has opened up about her 34-year struggle with alcohol and how she shed four stone following her decision to give up drinking in 2022.
The accomplished crime author and former barrister was eliminated from the show on Wednesday night after a heated confrontation with low-profile Traitor Rachel Duffy.
The 53-year-old remained convinced that Rachel was a Traitor, but her fellow contestants weren't persuaded by the ex-lawyer's arguments.
Harriet drew upon her legal background to demonstrate her skill in identifying a Traitor, though she admitted to having been "a terrible barrister" because of her drinking problems in a 2024 piece written for The Observer.
The author is remarkably open about her journey to sobriety on Instagram, sharing before-and-after photographs with her followers since stopping drinking.
Harriet gave up alcohol on June 7, 2022, and wrote in her personal account about drinking: "I was systematically sabotaging myself, falling over in chambers in front of senior barristers and turning up late and hungover the next day.
"I wasn't sabotaging my work any more, and besides, I'd been a terrible barrister. Crime writing's the sort of job you'd expect a drinker to do. But alcohol still took up too much space in my mind," reports the Express.
She also mentioned wanting to take up yoga, weight training and running, as well as "giving cold swimming a go".
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Harriet described herself as a walking "advert" for giving up alcohol, and shared a throwback photograph with her followers, revealing she'd dropped weight since quitting.
In her piece for The Observer, she continued: "I'm grateful on a daily basis that I've got out in time. Some days are harder - I miss the good time me that kept necking it down thinking I'd live forever, but I'm a lot happier now (and weigh 4 stone less, which is a lot easier on my ageing knees! )."
Harriet has released three books so far, with her latest novel, Witch Trial, set to arrive in bookshops this March.
The Traitors returns to BBC One tonight at 8pm.