Former Model Turned Actress Amber Valletta Shares Story of Recovery

The current star of the TV show “Revenge” has recently revealed to the public about her struggles in the past with abuse and addiction. Amber Valletta has never spoken before about her problems with drug abuse but has now come forward to discuss her story of addiction and recovery. Valletta has found success as a longtime model and more recently as an actress playing the role of Lydia Davis. She struggled with addiction through years of her young life but was finally able to achieve sobriety at the age of 25. The actress, now 40, has spoken about the more personal aspects of her life and the details of her problems with drugs and alcohol.

A Life of Drug Addiction

Amber Valletta admits that drugs had been a problem for her even from a very young age. She was only 8 years old when she started trying to get high from sniffing markers, glue, fingernail polish or anything that made her feel a buzz. The culture of her family made her discover real drugs and she started using at the age of 10.

By the time she was 18 and had moved to Europe she was addicted to cocaine and alcohol. As a young model, she was in a business where this type of drug use was widely accepted and even given to people in the industry. Although her addiction began to take over her life, Valletta was still succeeding in the modeling world and even landed the cover of Vogue at the age of 25.

She began to realize how much her drug use was negatively affecting her personal life and even her professionalism. She alienated friends and family members and nearly sacrificed a multi-million dollar deal by showing up to a campaign drunk and high. Even when her uncle was dying, she showed up to his bedside still high and drunk looking to do another line of cocaine.

Seeking Help for Recovery

As Valletta’s behavior became more out of control, she finally realized that she needed to get help when she was 25. She sought treatment for her addiction and was able to get sober through a rehab program. After 15 years, Amber Valletta is still maintaining her sobriety although she still identifies herself as an addict and admits that she was always responsible for her own addictive behavior.

Even though she had easy access to drugs in her modeling career she believes it was her own fault for letting her drug abuse get out of control. The reason for her addiction problems was due to her feeling uncomfortable in her own skin and looking for an escape through drugs and alcohol.

Valletta knows she was not a victim of those providing her drugs in the modeling industry but her actions were always her own choice.

When she reached 25 and was at the peak of her career she finally realized that she didn’t want to die of her addiction. She was able to overcome her feelings of shame and admit to the people around her that she needed help. It took courage for her to saw that she didn’t want to go through it alone and that she needed support to overcome her addiction.

Valletta hopes her story of recovery can inspire others who are struggling with addiction to seek help. She understands the darkness of addiction and how hard it can be to finally summon the strength to enter recovery.

Amber Valletta continues her successful sobriety along with her acting career on “Revenge” and a new show called “Legends” that will premiere this month on TNT.