‘I drank a bottle of wine a night after Love Island – I had to change’, says Jamie Jewitt

When Jamie Jewitt first arrived on our screens all the way back in Love Island 2017, the Essex based hunk delighted audiences with his charm, sense of humour and stunningly good looks.

Hitting it off with fellow contestant Camilla Thurlow, fans eagerly cheered the smitten couple on all the way to the final, where they only narrowly missed out on winning the show!

Fast forward six years, and the couple are still going strong, having been happily married for 18 months and welcoming two adorable daughters into the world.

However that slice of idyllic family life hasn’t been without it’s hardships, as Jamie revealed that in the years that followed his Love Island appearance, the Coronavirus Lockdown of 2020 lead to him picking up a very bad drinking habit, that often lead him to get through a bottle of wine a night.

Chatting exclusively to OK!, Jamie explained: “It kind of started in Lockdown, I got way too used to drinking wine every night.”

“ It started off with a glass and then it became two glasses and then before I knew it, it was becoming a bottle of wine most nights. It just became a really bad habit.”

He then continued: “It became one of those things that, I’d just done it for so long, I was convinced I wasn’t even getting hangovers from it anymore.

“It’s only looking back on it now, having stopped drinking that I realise quite how much damage it had done to my body and my mood.”

Making the decision that something needed to change, Jamie opted to cut booze from his lifestyle entirely, and swore off beer, wine and spirits in a bid to get a handle on a habit that was becoming far too regular for his liking.

“It’s funny, looking back on it. I speak to my friends and family and a lot of people in Lockdown have said they started drinking – and not drinking as in drinking heavily – but it was just being locked in the house all day, getting to the end of the day and having a glass of wine was a nice treat,” he added.

“ And one step away from that it just becomes too much of a regularity and suddenly you’re drinking every night and don’t even realise that it had happened.

“Now looking back I think, Jesus, I was drinking quite a lot. “

For the Love Island star it wasn’t just about needing a “treat” to get through the day however, it was also about being able to fall asleep at night, as Jamie went on to reveal that a glass of wine helped to calm his nerves and anxiety in the evening.

He explained: “ I used to drink at night because I was quite anxious. I had nerves and anxiety most evenings and overthinking stuff, so I would drink and then I’d fall asleep easily.”

“So in my head, I’m thinking this is great, it’s giving me a good night’s sleep! But in reality it was giving me a broken sleep pattern with very disturbed sleep.”

According to the National Institute of Health, in otherwise healthy adults, disrupted sleep even in the short term, can lead to increased stress, somatic pain, reduced quality of life, emotional distress and cognitive, memory, and performance deficits.

This was especially apparent for Jamie, who then realised that he couldn’t continue with his lifestyle and reliance on wine to unwind.

Determined to make a change for the better, Jamie decided to test the waters by going booze free for a week or two, to see if it made any difference to him before fully committing to a teetotal lifestyle.

“After stopping for a week or two, I was quite shocked what not drinking actually felt like. I felt superhuman in comparison!” exclaimed the star.

“The longer I haven’t drunk for, the easier it was to not drink, because it was really obvious to me the benefits. It got easier and easier as it went along.”

Having made the decision to ditch the booze, Jamie also made a few other modifications to his bedtime routine, in order to still have that quiet wind-down time, even without a drink.

“Having something healthy to drink, stopping eating late, and having a cup of tea or a hot drink, a non alcoholic beer – just something – helps me have my little wind down and go to sleep,” revealed the star.

“I get really good, really restful sleep – and the bizarre thing was when I was drinking, I’d fall asleep and wake up, and I’d feel like crap. It’s not just the alcohol it’s because I wasn’t getting a restful sleep. Now, I’ll fall asleep and wake up and actually feel fresh, energetic, and positive”

“All these different things showed me it really was quite an extreme difference and that’s the biggest thing my friends and family noticed.

“ I was just switched on a lot more. I was a little less braindead, a little more motivated, I had more energy. It’s quite mind-blowing how important quality sleep is and alcohol definitely disrupted it.”

As part of of his new routine, Jamie admitted he’s waved goodbye to a sneaky tipple and instead enjoys a drink of herbal tea in the evening, with Night Time Tea and Chamomile being just two of his favourite flavours.

“When I stopped drinking, tea was a big thing for me, because there’s so many different varieties and flavours,” he mused.

Reflecting on his bad habit and how the healthier swap factored in, Jamie continued: “One of the big things I noticed about my drinking habit and that nighttime routine, was that in the evening I associated alcohol with my relaxing time, and wine is a savoury drink. It’s something you sip really slowly.”

“So I found it difficult, thinking ‘what am I going to do in that nighttime routine?’ Because it was so drilled into me that I’d get into bed, have my savoury drink, and that was always wine.”

Trading a glass of vino for a mug of tea, Jamie found that it was a simple but sustainable swap, that still provided the same comfort of wine, but in a healthier way.

“When I switched over to tea, it was the perfect replacement, because it’s not something you want to just down. It’s a delicious sort of savoury, herbal slow sipping drink, which was a really good replacement for the wine,” he added.

“That’s my biggest piece of advice for anyone wanting to stop drinking: re-establish a relationship with a healthy drink and replace it in that situation where you’d usually reach for your glass of wine.”

“Once you’ve trained your brain to do that, you’ll get the exact same relaxation and feedback from it.”

Jamie has partnered with leading herbal tea brand Pukka Herbs to help him on his journey to better sleep. Pukka Herbs Organic Night Time Tea is a natural sleep solution that has been crafted using nature's most calming and slumber-inducing herbs to ease you naturally into a peaceful rest.

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