Why I’m Proud to Call Myself an Alcoholic - with Cat Sims

Not so smug now! - This week, Vic sits down with writer, podcaster and self-confessed “textbook drunk” Cat Sims for a conversation about motherhood, drugs, booze and what happens when the party girl suddenly has a tiny human to keep alive.

They talk about crying in school car parks, postnatal depression, drinking as a reward for surviving motherhood and that strange moment in sobriety when you realise peace isn’t actually boredom. Sometimes life is just… peaceful. Who knew?

But somewhere along the way, the conversation takes an unexpected turn when Cat uses a word Vic has spent more than eight years avoiding: alcoholic.

Cat embraces the label. Vic absolutely does not.

What follows is a surprisingly emotional conversation about why Vic has always called herself an ex drinker, binge drinker, grey area drinker, former party girl, basically anything other than an alcoholic. Has trying to make sobriety feel less frightening for everyone else actually allowed Vic to keep a little bit of her own shame tucked away?

There are tears, uncomfortable truths and a rather compelling argument that after blowing off a finger at a Full Moon Party, perhaps “grey area drinker” isn’t quite covering it. It’s also a conversation about motherhood and belonging, about why so many women struggle quietly while believing everyone else is coping, and why sometimes the most powerful thing you can say to another mum crying in a car park is not “here’s what you should do”, but simply, “I get it. Sometimes parenting is fucked.”

Funny, raw and unexpectedly moving, this one shifts something in Vic.

Enjoy one of the best Sober Awkward guest interviews ever!

💛 Resources & Links

Follow Cat:

Instagram (312k followers)

TikTok (253.7k followers)

Substack (10k+ subscribers)

Buy her books:

You're Never The Only One (Simon & Schuster 2025)

The First Time You Smiled (Harper Collins 2022)

Listen to her podcast:

You're Never The Only One

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📘 A Thousand Wasted Sundays

Victoria’s brutally honest and hilarious memoir about motherhood, anxiety and ditching the booze.

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A Year of Trying (and Failing) to Be a Better Parent—Vic’s funny and painfully relatable memoir about the messy reality of motherhood.

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🛟 Alcohol Support

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Drinkline — National Alcohol Helpline

Free and confidential support if you are worried about your own or someone else’s drinking.

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Alcohol Change UK

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👉 alcoholchange.org.uk

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Call 13 11 14

Text 0477 13 11 14

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