The Big Dry

Talitha Cummins describes herself as the modern face of a recovering alcoholic: she’s young, professional, educated and high-functioning. The Channel Seven journalist first began drinking as a 14-year-old to fight shyness and social discomfort. But the alter ego that emerged when she drank – extrovert, confident, brazen – swiftly began to cause problems. By her early 30s Cummins was a successful television reporter by day and a binge drinker by night. But it wasn’t until her boss intervened to say her job was at stake that she finally took action. Today Cummins is four years sober, has a newborn son and is the happiest she’s ever been, but admits she is far from the finish line when it comes to beating her addiction.