TVNZ 1 Breakfast host Hayley Holt has revealed her battle with alcohol addiction.
Ms Holt spoke about her alcoholism on The Inside Word, which airs on Duke on Sundays at 9pm.
"I knew I was a problem drinker basically right from the beginning," she told host Jehan Casinader.
"I was quite proud of the fact that I [knew it]. I was a functioning alcoholic - 'Yeah, give me the booze'."
The television host says she began drinking in her early 20s as a way to "get outside of" her insecurities and to "join in" with her more charismatic friends.
"I was quite a self-conscious person - I was very shy when I was little. I was... I'm probably quite introverted," Ms Holt explained.
"That's who I thought I was. I really thought that was me."
Ms Holt said "at first, it worked. It gave me a personality and I got confident in myself, but then it pretty quickly became a problem."
The former snowboarder's friends soon began to avoid her as she became more dependent on alcohol to have a good time.
The 36-year-old, who regularly attends AA meetings, has been sober for more than three years.
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