Tom Holland shares why he left alcohol behind: ‘Struggling without booze…’

Tom Holland shared why he left alcohol in 2022 after an eye-opening experience during Dry January. On the October 17 episode of the Rich Roll podcast, the Spider-Man actor, 28, discussed, “I couldn’t quite wrap my head around how much I was struggling without booze in that first month — and it really scared me.”
“I decided, as a sort of punishment to myself, that I would do February as well as January.”
“It was no easier. If anything, it got a little bit harder. So I was starting to kind of panic, thinking, ‘Damn. I have a bit of an alcohol thing.’”
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The Spider-Man star revealed that an “upsetting conversation” with his doctor about his liver further fueled his realization that he might be facing a bigger issue. Holland thought, “Wow, maybe I have a bit of an issue here.”
“I got through March and started to feel a little bit better, but was still really struggling,” he explained. “If I can make it to June 1st, which is my birthday, and I can do six months without booze, I will have then proved to myself that I don’t have a problem. I’m just young and enjoying a drink.”
But by the time he reached his birthday, Holland began to see the positive changes in his life. “I really started feeling the benefits of a sober life. I started sleeping better. I was handling stressful situations better. My relationship [with Zendaya] was better. My relationship with my family was better. My relationship with my work was better.”
The Uncharted actor decided to complete a full year without alcohol, and by the time he crossed that milestone, he was certain about his decision. “By the time I’d crossed that annual mark, I was done. I was like, ‘I’m never gonna drink again because this is the best version of myself.’”
“It was my go-to to celebrate, and my go-to to commiserate,” he said. As an actor, Holland found himself surrounded by opportunities to drink. “You always have a reason to be drinking. Or, I felt like I always had a reason to be drinking.”
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While Holland clarified that he was “never a bad drunk,” he acknowledged that he didn’t have the ability to stop once he started. “I wasn’t the type of person that could nip to the pub for a pint,” he said. “I wanted to lock the door behind me.” His relationship with alcohol worsened when he realized, “I polished off a mini-bar one too many times.”