Addicted to Recovery

This episode of Addicted to Recovery focuses on a major milestone, as Max celebrates seven years of sobriety. The conversation reflects on how life has changed since active addiction, highlighting the contrast between past behaviors and the present sense of freedom, gratitude, and connection.

The hosts begin by discussing a recent stag weekend, showing that it’s possible to fully enjoy social events without alcohol or drugs. Despite late nights and high-energy environments, they describe feeling genuinely present, free, and even euphoric while sober. This stands in stark contrast to their past, where substance use often led to...

In this episode of Addicted to Recovery, we sit down with Martin, who shares an honest and powerful account of his journey through addiction, relapse, and long-term recovery.

Growing up in a loving home, Martin always felt like he didn’t quite belong. That underlying feeling followed him into his teenage years, where alcohol quickly became the solution — giving him confidence, connection, and a sense of ease he’d never experienced before. From there, things escalated. What started as partying turned into years of drug and alcohol use, eventually becoming a daily necessity.

Despite building a succ...

In this episode of Addicted to Recovery, hosts Christopher White and Max Thomas speak with their friend Dev about his personal journey through addiction, relapse, and recovery.

Early Life

Dev describes growing up in a loving and stable home in Watford with both parents and a younger brother. Despite having a supportive upbringing and no major trauma, he often felt uncomfortable in his own skin and struggled with low self-esteem. From a young age he craved approval and wanted to be liked, particularly by his father.

Looking back, Dev recognises that addictive patterns...

In this episode of Addicted to Recovery, the hosts speak with Tony, who shares his powerful life story of addiction, trauma, and ultimately recovery.

Tony grew up on a council estate in East London, raised by hardworking parents alongside his brother and sister. When Tony was young, his sister was tragically run over and lost her leg, an event that deeply impacted the family. Although the trauma was never openly discussed, Tony believes it contributed to his father becoming a heavy drinker and created an emotionally difficult home environment. tony

As a child, Tony found...

DJ Ross Mack joins Addicted to Recovery to share his powerful journey from the heights of the nightlife industry to the depths of addiction — and back again.

From DJing major clubs like Opium Lounge, The Warehouse, Funky Buddha and playing internationally, Ross lived the fast-paced lifestyle of music, money, women and substances. Behind the decks he looked in control — but behind closed doors his addiction was spiralling into isolation, paranoia and darkness.

In this episode, Ross opens up about:

In this powerful episode of Addicted to Recovery, the hosts welcome Amber, who shares her deeply honest journey through addiction, relapse, mental health struggles, and ultimately finding lasting recovery. Amber

Amber opens up about growing up feeling different and self-conscious, discovering alcohol at a young age, and later developing a dependence on cocaine that quickly escalated from social use into a destructive cycle. She discusses how ADHD, untreated trauma, and the search to feel “normal” fueled her addiction — and how becoming a mother added both love and pressure during her darkest moments. Amber

After hitting emotio...

This episode of Addicted to Recovery features Harry, who shares his personal journey through addiction, recovery, and fatherhood. He reflects on growing up in West London, navigating family challenges, and being diagnosed with ADHD at a young age. Despite a childhood filled with love, the absence of a consistent male role model and exposure to a tough “lad culture” shaped his identity and influenced early drinking and drug use. Football became both an outlet and an entry point into environments where alcohol and substances were normalised.

As Harry entered adulthood, his substance use escalated from social drinking to d...

In this episode, Christopher White and Max Thomas speak directly to the newcomer — the person who’s struggling, confused, overwhelmed, or quietly asking for help. Drawing from their own lived experience, they break down what addiction actually feels like, why extreme emotions are common in early recovery, and why no feeling — good or bad — lasts forever.

The conversation moves through mental health, physical wellbeing, gratitude, forgiveness, and the power of human connection. Chris and Max also talk openly about meetings, sponsorship, and 12-step recovery, explaining why simply walking through the door can be one of the bravest decision...

In this episode of Addicted to Recovery, the hosts sit down with Mike, a Patreon supporter and recovering addict, for a raw and deeply personal conversation about addiction, identity, mental health, and what it really means to rebuild a life from the ground up. Mike shares how, despite growing up in a loving and financially stable home, he struggled internally from a young age with bullying, low self-worth, and a constant feeling of not fitting in. As an adult, he was diagnosed with autism, which helped him understand years of masking, people-pleasing, and difficulty regulating emotions — all of which fe...

In this powerful episode, Chris and Max sit down with their friend Dean, who shares an unfiltered look at addiction, recovery, and the emotional struggles that don’t magically disappear with sobriety. Nearly nine years clean, Dean explains how his addiction didn’t vanish — it shifted. His intense dedication to the gym and his physique became a new outlet, a kind of “armor,” masking deep self-hatred, body image issues, and a lifelong discomfort in his own skin. Despite looking disciplined and put-together on the outside, he reveals he has never truly liked himself and still feels lost internally.

Dean tra...

In this powerful and deeply honest episode of Addicted to Recovery, hosts Christopher White and Max Thomas are joined by their close friend Nick, who shares his raw, unfiltered journey through addiction, mental health struggles, and recovery.

Nick opens up about living with relentless anxiety, low self-worth, and an overwhelming internal dialogue that shaped his life from childhood. Despite appearing confident on the outside, he describes years of people-pleasing, overthinking, and emotional exhaustion that ultimately fuelled his substance use. What began with alcohol as a way to “feel normal” gradually escalated into a destructive cycle involving drugs, work...

In this powerful and deeply honest episode of Addicted to Recovery, hosts Christopher White and Max Thomas explore one of the most confronting questions in recovery: “Am I an addict?” Drawing from personal experience, lived recovery, and official fellowship literature, they walk listeners through the Am I an Addict? questionnaire—a tool designed to help individuals reflect honestly on their relationship with drugs, alcohol, and behaviour.

Rather than focusing solely on substances, the episode highlights addiction as a disease of thinking, feeling, and living, showing how it affects every area of life: relationships, finances, mental health, self-worth, and id...

In this powerful and deeply honest episode of Addicted to Recovery, hosts Christopher White and Max Thomas explore one of the most challenging and universal themes in recovery: self-obsession.

Using real-life examples from their own relationships, parenting, road rage, social anxiety, and everyday interactions, Chris and Max unpack how self-obsession quietly drives emotional pain, conflict, and addictive thinking. The conversation is grounded in recovery literature, particularly the concept of The Triangle of Self Obsession—made up of resentment (the past), anger (the present), and fear (the future).

The episode highlights how addiction can arrest emotional gr...

In this honest, reflective episode of Addicted to Recovery, hosts Christopher White and Max Thomas sit down for an unfiltered conversation with no guest, using the space to openly process the emotional impact of the Christmas period in recovery.

The episode explores how breaking routine over the holidays can deeply affect addicts in recovery, triggering emotional sensitivity, irritability, overthinking, and a return to old thought patterns such as blame, control, people-pleasing, and self-criticism. Both hosts discuss struggles with family dynamics, overstimulation, and the pressure of multiple personalities coming together during Christmas.

They reflect on the...

Episode 100 of Addicted to Recovery is a big one. Christopher White and Max Thomas mark the milestone by sitting down with comedian and podcaster Dapper Laughs for a raw, honest, and at times emotional conversation about addiction, recovery, and what it really takes to turn your life around. Episode 100 - Dapper Laughs

Dapper Laughs opens up about his early relationship with drink and drugs, growing up around chaos, violence, and addiction, and using humour as a way to cope and fit in. What started as partying and bravado slowly turned into heavy cocaine use, emotional comedowns, and...

In this powerful and deeply honest episode of Addicted to Recovery, hosts Christopher White and Max Thomas sit down with their friend Matt to explore his journey through addiction, loss, and recovery.

Matt shares how his struggles began long before substances entered the picture. Growing up feeling unseen, failing the 11+ exam, craving his father’s approval, and later feeling physically and emotionally “behind” his peers all contributed to a deep sense of inadequacy. Football became his first escape, followed by cannabis in his early teens, which quickly developed into a daily habit that numbed his thoughts and emotio...

In this powerful and deeply honest episode of Addicted to Recovery, Christopher White and Max Thomas sit down with international fashion icon and long-term recovering addict Paul Sculfor. Paul opens up about his extraordinary journey — from the heights of the 1990s global fashion scene, elite parties, and international success, to the depths of addiction, burnout, and emotional collapse. With raw vulnerability, he shares how alcohol, cocaine, and compulsive behaviours slowly took control, despite outward success and discipline in his professional life.

Paul reflects on childhood anxiety, fear, and the generational impact of trauma, and how those early ex...

In this episode of Addicted to Recovery, hosts Christopher White and Max Thomas sit down with Steve, a long-time member of Gamblers Anonymous who has been in recovery for almost ten years. Steve offers a raw and honest insight into how his gambling addiction began, how it spiralled out of control, and how recovery has transformed his life.

Steve describes growing up in a stable, loving household, with no obvious signs that addiction would ever be part of his life. Gambling entered harmlessly—small bets during family outings to the dog tracks, or casual football accumulators. However, in his early twenties, after taking a job in London, gambling shifted from occasional fun to a da...

In this episode of Addicted to Recovery, hosts Christopher White and Max Thomas sit down with Simon, a long-time listener attending the show for the first time. Simon opens up about growing up in a loving and stable home, yet always feeling different, overly sensitive, and deeply uncomfortable in his own skin. As a child he experienced night terrors, sleepwalking, and early anxiety, eventually seeing a psychiatrist at just seven years old. Those feelings of not fitting in followed him into secondary school, where he struggled with identity, belonging, and self-worth.

Simon shares how he discovered alcohol at thirteen and instantly fell in love with its ability to change how he felt about himself. Fro...

In this follow-up episode, George returns to share the powerful next chapter of his recovery journey. He talks openly about the family intervention that pushed him toward rehab, calling Grant at The Lighthouse, and entering treatment full of denial, fear, and withdrawal. Inside rehab, honesty, cross-addiction sessions, and the support of others slowly begin breaking through his denial.

After leaving treatment, George dives into meetings and begins feeling moments of hope—only to experience a painful six-day relapse that becomes one of the darkest and most frightening periods of his life. That experience brings true willingness, leading hi...

In this powerful first part of George’s story, hosts Christopher White and Max Thomas sit down with their friend and fellow recovering addict, George — who shares a brutally honest look at his life before recovery.

George recalls how Addicted to Recovery itself helped him through a dark patch when paranoia and self-doubt left him isolated. At two and a half years clean, he nearly relapsed — a stark reminder that no matter how long you’ve been sober, the disease of addiction can still whisper in your ear.

He talks candidly about his early life: a sensit...

In this powerful and deeply moving episode, Paul Hannaford continues sharing his journey from addiction and crime to redemption and purpose. The conversation opens with Paul leaving the hospital after a long battle with drug abuse and serious leg injuries that nearly cost him his life. He reflects on the moment he chose recovery over returning to drugs — a decision that changed everything.

Paul recounts his early struggles finding a treatment center, the kindness of hospital staff who let him stay five extra days, and the emotional start to his rehab journey at Hope House in Weston-super-Mare. He...

In this gripping first part of a two-part conversation, hosts Christopher White and Max Thomas sit down with Paul Hannaford, whose story takes listeners from an ordinary East London childhood into the chaotic and heartbreaking world of addiction, crime, and survival.

Paul speaks with raw honesty about his early life growing up in East Ham as the eldest of four boys, his deep love for his father, and the devastating impact of losing him to alcoholism and family breakdown. That loss became the seed of a lifetime of pain and searching — first through friendships with older boys, th...

In this powerful episode of Addicted to Recovery, hosts Chris and Max sit down with psychotherapist and fellow recovering addict Nick for an honest and deeply relatable conversation about addiction, emotional regulation, and the ongoing work of recovery. Nick shares how daily mindfulness, breathwork, and shifting focus from self-centeredness to service have transformed his life, while the trio discuss how intense emotions, reactive behaviors, and childhood coping mechanisms shape the recovery journey. They explore vulnerability as an act of courage, the importance of honesty in healing, and the role of parenting in teaching emotional balance. Nick also introduces his...

In this powerful and deeply moving episode of Addicted to Recovery, hosts Christopher White and Max Thomas sit down with Louise, one of their patrons and a fellow recovering addict, to share a raw and inspiring story of transformation, resilience, and hope.

Louise opens up about her turbulent past, marked by childhood trauma, addiction, abusive relationships, and time spent in prison. From stealing as a young girl and seeking validation through destructive behaviors, to falling into substance abuse by age 13 and entering a relationship with a much older man, Louise’s early life was chaotic and painful. He...

In this episode of Addicted to Recovery, hosts Christopher White and Max Thomas dive into the theme of freedom in recovery. Fresh from celebrating his 40th birthday in New York, Max shares the profound sense of freedom he felt — being comfortable in his own skin, no longer bound by old habits, secrecy, or shame.

The conversation explores:

In this raw and deeply moving episode of Addicted to Recovery, hosts Christopher White and Max Thomas sit down with Alex, a fellow recovering addict, to explore his incredible journey from addiction, violence, and prison to love, stability, and a new life in recovery.

Alex opens up about growing up in a loving family but feeling different from an early age — plagued by anxiety, intense emotions, and a constant sense of not fitting in. As a teenager, alcohol and drugs quickly became his escape. Drawn to the thrill and sense of belonging in football culture, Alex found hi...

In this powerful episode of Addicted to Recovery, Christopher and Max sit down with Steve, who is just shy of 18 months clean. Steve shares a deeply personal and moving story of addiction, family struggles, and redemption.

The conversation begins with Steve’s early life, growing up in a divided and often chaotic household. His parents’ divorce and a lack of love and stability left him anxious and withdrawn. As a teenager, Steve gravitated toward older friends and environments where alcohol and drugs were normalized, leading to his first experiences with cocaine and, shockingly, smoking crack by the age...

In this powerful episode, Christopher and Max take listeners on an honest and raw journey through addiction, recovery, and hope. They begin by discussing the stigma surrounding addiction and how even some medical professionals fail to fully understand it, focusing only on the substances rather than the deeper illness.

As the conversation unfolds, both hosts open up about their darkest days — the lies, shame, and destruction caused by their addiction. Christopher shares his near-daily struggles during his final two years of using, highlighting the cycle of chaos and the breaking point that finally led him to rehab. Ma...

In this deeply moving episode, Chris and Max sit down with their friend Dean, who opens up about his lifelong battle with addiction, starting with gambling as a child and spiraling into decades of drug use. Dean shares how his life unraveled—from the highs of the rave scene to the devastating lows of losing his family, home, and self-respect.

Through the 12-step program and unwavering support from others in recovery, Dean found freedom and a new way of living. Now over ten years clean, Dean reflects on the power of surrender, the importance of service, and hi...

In this episode of Addicted to Recovery, Chris and Max welcome Rachel, who opens up about her journey from drinking three liters of vodka a day to finding freedom in sobriety. She shares candidly about her struggles with fear, shame, and family, and the turning point that led her to rehab and the 12 steps. Now over 17 months sober, Rachel reflects on parenting in recovery, rebuilding trust, and the importance of service. Her story is one of resilience, hope, and the life-changing miracle of recovery.

In this powerful and deeply moving episode of Addicted to Recovery, hosts Christopher White and Max Thomas sit down with Luke, whose story of survival through childhood trauma, addiction, crime, and eventual redemption will leave you inspired.

Addicted to amphetamines by his own mother at just 13, Luke grew up in a world of drugs, violence, and instability. He opens up about enduring abuse, falling into crime, serving time in prison, and how addiction consumed his life for years.

Luke shares the pivotal moments that forced him to confront his destructive path—from a brutal attack by...

In this episode of Addicted to Recovery, hosts Christopher White and Max Thomas welcome guest Daryl (aka R33DY D), who courageously shares his journey through addiction, childhood struggles, and recovery.

Daryl opens up about living with autism, ADHD, and dyslexia, which made social situations and school life especially difficult. He recalls feeling uncomfortable in his own skin from an early age, masking insecurities by being the class clown, and later finding escape in raves, ecstasy, speed, and cocaine. Drugs temporarily quieted his restless mind but quickly spiraled into paranoia, toxic relationships, and destructive cycles that cost...

In this powerful and raw episode, Christopher White and Max Thomas sit down with Ben K, a fellow recovering addict who shares his deeply personal journey through two decades of relapse, recovery, and everything in between. Ben opens up about the emotional turbulence of fatherhood, managing Crohn’s disease, and the lifelong impact of addiction—not just on himself, but on those around him.

From a spontaneous invitation to the podcast to a moving reflection on his 18 months of solid recovery, Ben’s story highlights how addiction isn't always about substances—it’s about control, fear, shame, and self-w...

In this moving and powerful episode of Addicted to Recovery, hosts Christopher and Max sit down with longtime friend and recurring guest Darren, who is celebrating an incredible milestone—15 years of continuous clean time.

The conversation kicks off with Darren reflecting on the deep emotional impact of reaching 15 years clean. He shares feelings of overwhelming gratitude, humility, and astonishment that he's come so far, especially when he once believed sobriety was impossible.

Throughout the episode, Darren recounts critical turning points in his recovery, including:

In this powerful and deeply moving episode, hosts Christopher White and Max Thomas sit down with Gavin, a leader in Believers in Recovery UK, to hear his extraordinary journey through addiction, recovery, and faith. Gavin opens up about his traumatic past—from life on the streets and multiple relapses, to surviving paralysis and spiritual despair. His turning point came not just from 12-step programs but through a life-changing encounter with faith.

Listeners will hear raw, unfiltered truths about addiction, the importance of spiritual growth in recovery, and why Gavin believes healing must happen on three levels: with Go...

In this powerful and deeply personal episode of Addicted to Recovery, hosts Christopher White and Max Thomas sit down with their courageous friend Anthea to hear her incredible journey through addiction, loss, recovery, and resilience.

Anthea opens up about her early life, the emotional impact of fractured family dynamics, and how trauma shaped her path. She shares harrowing experiences from teenage years marked by substance abuse and unstable living conditions, including the devastating loss of her first child to cot death—a tragedy that became a turning point in her spiral into addiction.

With raw ho...

In this deeply moving episode, hosts Christopher White and Max Thomas are joined by special guest Stacey—a fellow recovering addict whose story comes full circle in a way that’s nothing short of inspiring.

What starts with a brave Instagram message to Christopher becomes a life-changing journey of healing, connection, and service. Stacey opens up with raw honesty about his early struggles, the traumatic experiences that shaped his addiction, and the moment he decided he could no longer run from the truth. From daily drug use and family heartbreak to 447 days clean, Stacey's story is a powe...

In this powerful and emotionally charged episode, Chris and Max sit down—just the two of them—to explore one of the most personal and universal themes in addiction recovery: relationships. With no guests and no filters, the conversation dives deep into the damage caused by addiction to romantic partnerships, family bonds, and friendships, and the long, often painful journey of rebuilding those connections in sobriety.

Chris and Max open up with raw honesty. Max reflects on the pain he caused his wife and family during active addiction, and how his recovery journey helped him regain trust and...

In this gripping episode of Addicted to Recovery, Christopher and Max sit down with David — a man whose addiction story defies stereotypes. After decades of casual drug and alcohol use, David’s life was turned upside down at age 50 when he tried ketamine for the first time. What began as curiosity spiraled into daily dependency, health crises, isolation, and ultimately near-death.

David shares his brutally honest account of falling in love with the disconnection ketamine offered, the physical and mental toll it took, and the moment he finally surrendered. His story is a powerful reminder that addiction can...