Emmerdale stalwart Danny Miller, beloved by fans as Aaron Dingle, recently took to Instagram to celebrate hitting a milestone in his sobriety journey, completing a whole year without alcohol, and now he’s updated fans on the physical changes he’s been seeing.
Uploading a split picture, with one image coming from before he embarked on his new journey, and another taken recently, the changes are enormous.
‘It’s not until you see old pictures that you realise how much you’ve changed,’ he began the caption.
‘Looking at the photo on the left, I remember feeling run down, tired and constantly putting myself at the bottom of the priority list.
‘Like a lot of parents, I was so busy trying to be everything for everyone else that I forgot to look after myself.
‘To be the best husband I can be. To be the best dad I can be. I first needed to be the best Danny I could be.
‘The photo on the right isn’t about being perfect. It’s about feeling healthier, happier and having more energy for the people who matter most.
‘Still a work in progress, but I’m proud of how far I’ve come.’
Danny’s comment section was flooded with supportive messages, with @maxfoxuk saying: ‘Knocked off 10 years mate! Congratulations’.
@palmer.malcom shared an emotional anecdote: ‘Yeah. That painted on smile and dead eyes. I totally get it. I’m 37yrs sober and it was the best thing I ever did. Saved my life. Everyone benefits from us being the best version of ourselves that we can be. Well done you.’
@kylalhall added: ‘You look ten years younger and you have happy eyes. Well done. Absolutely smashing it’
In the video Danny had previously uploaded announcing his huge milestone, he laid bare his reasoning behind giving up alcohol.
‘Hi, I’m Danny, I’m 35 and today marks one year of sobriety’, he began the clip. ‘I’ve today marked one year of sobriety, one year since I last had a drink.
‘One year of reinventing myself for my family, trying to better myself, for my children, for my wife. It’s an emotional day for me because I never, ever in a million years believed this was achievable, genuinely.
‘I knew I had a bit of an issue with it. I fell down a rabbit hole with drinking. Steph has been an absolute rock throughout it, despite me itching for a drink every now and again.
‘I’m not an alcoholic by any means. I wanted to better myself, my family, for my career, for my children mainly.
‘Every single water park, theme park event that we used to go with the kids, I’d always have to just check there’s a bar first then I could enjoy myself. It was beyond control, now I’ve changed my ways.
‘I wanted them to get the best version of me without me being frustrated that they were there and they were present when I wasn’t.’
Danny went on to detail why he was going public with his achievement.
‘Why am I doing this video? Do I want to be a voice for sobriety? No. Am I asking for attention? No. Am I asking for praise? No. I’m merely saying that if I can do it, then you can do it. And I know that’s such a boring cliché saying.
‘If you’re lucky enough to be a father, embrace it because it genuinely doesn’t last long enough. They grow up so quickly and then it’s gone. If you’re thinking about doing it, just do it. Please trust me, just do it.
‘One year, no beer. That was what a colleague of mine at work said. One year, no beer. Try it, see how you get on. My career, my family life, everything has just got better since. You can do the same.’
