Australian Idol alums Shannon Noll and Kate DeAraugo have bonded over the struggles they’ve both experienced since finding fame on the singing talent show.
“I made some wrong choices [along the way],” Kate admitted to the What About Me singer on his podcast, Idol Talking With Nollsie, before he revealed he empathised with the 37-year-old Melbourne-born singer.
Shannon said it’s “very hard” to stay sober “especially in this business”.
(Image: Instagram)“Me too, don’t worry about that. That’s just nature,” Shannon said. “Considering you and I couldn’t have been any further from this industry growing up, I think it was a big learning curve, definitely for me, and obviously for you as well.”
That “learning curve” saw Kate battling a terrifying crystal meth addiction that resulted in her being arrested for drug possession in 2017.
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“My life went on a bit of a left-field journey and I did some things and went some places that I never wanted to. Coming back from that, having to really turn around and look at your life and take responsibility for your decisions is probably the hardest and most terrifying thing I’ve ever had to do. A lot of people don’t get to come back from where I got to and I just feel really grateful that I [did],” she added.
Kate has been clean for 5 years.
(Image: Instagram)Now, five years clean and sober, Kate says she wants to help to destigmatise addiction.
“Addiction is a topic that should be talked about really openly and I think, still in this country, we’re not very educated about it,” says the star, who is working on her own podcast about the topic.
“Unless you know somebody who’s been through it or you’ve been through it yourself, it’s something that’s still hard for a lot of people to understand.”
Shannon gets it though. He’s been there too with his own substance abuse struggles.
“Especially in this business, everyone’s up for a party, every night,” the 47-year-old commiserated, adding that it’s “very hard” to stay sober “especially in this business”.
Shannon also connected with Kate over something more positive – parenthood.
“I’ve done some pretty wild things in my life, but this is definitely the wildest,” said Kate of welcoming her first child, Hudson, noting her son is her “greatest achievement”.
“I totally agree with that,” said father-of-four Shannon. “You’re a different person forever after you have little ones.”
