Elle Macpherson has confessed to using cocaine during her modelling years.
The Australian supermodel, 60, speaks at length about her addiction and journey to getting sober in her memoir, Elle: Life, Lessons & Learning to Trust Yourself.
In one chapter, she revealed how she would frequently get black-out drunk and drink ‘shots of vodka’ after putting her sons Cy and Flynn Busson to bed when they were young.
Now, Elle has confessed on Wednesday’s The Kyle and Jackie O Show to using cocaine for weight loss while she was modelling.
Radio host Kyle Sandilands told her: ‘I made the mistake, and I’m happy to admit it, that I thought I’d lose weight by having cocaine for ten years. Now, did I lose the weight? No, I didn’t. I got the bloat.’
Elle Macpherson has confessed to using cocaine during her modelling years
In response, Elle admitted: ‘I’ve done that!’
Her remark came as she discussed why she controversially turned to holistic healing methods rather than chemotherapy after getting diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017.
‘It wasn’t like there was a one size fits all golden bullet, golden nugget that you could just take and say, ”Okay, this is going to guarantee upper wellness at the end of it”,’ she said.
‘Sometimes it’s a combination; it’s not either-or, maybe it’s a combination of things.
‘People just have to go on a journey of research and find out what resonates with them and get as much advice as you can.’
In her memoir, Elle – who was dubbed ‘The Body’ at the peak of her fame – detailed the depths of her addiction before giving up alcohol and getting sober in 2003.
She shared her habit of drinking shots at night while with her now ex Arpad ‘Arki’ Busson.
‘My life looked amazing to everybody. On the outside I was doing a beautiful job but, deep down inside, I was really struggling,’ she wrote in her book.
While discussing her wellness journey in recent years, Elle revealed she has used cocaine as a way to try and lose weight – a common side effect of abusing the drug (pictured in 1994)
After giving birth to her youngest child, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover girl recalled feeling consumed by the desire to drink a bottle of champagne that was gifted to her.
Despite warnings from her two naturopaths that drinking soon after giving birth would disrupt her hormones, Elle said that when left alone with Cy, all she ‘could think about was that bottle of champagne in the ice bucket’.
She then turned to vodka to unwind in the evenings while maintaining her pin-up perfect image to the public.
At the time, she was in a relationship with French financier Arki, who was often away during the week on business, leaving her to parent their two children by herself.
Despite considering rehabilitation, she told Arki she was fine and went back to work after Cy’s birth to prove that motherhood had not slowed her down.
‘I loved spending time with Arki and… I wanted to prove to him I would be his partner in fun and business while being the mother of his sons,’ she wrote.
‘I would go out and drink, party and become sick again. It became a constant repeat: I was in a horrible downward spiral.’
Elle also confessed to experiencing scary blackouts and turned to alcohol as a coping mechanism for her anxiety.
In her memoir, Elle revealed how she would get black-out drunk and begin drinking ‘shots of vodka’ after putting her sons Cy, 21, and Flynn Busson, 26, to bed when they were younger
‘Often I would drink after I put my children to bed. I would sit down by myself and have shots of vodka and then I’d write to-do lists and letters to my family. I would do he housework, listen to music until around 11pm, then go to bed and pass out,’ she detailed.
Those closest to Elle began to suspect something was wrong and her naturopaths recommended rehab.
In the Arizona rehab facility, Elle was initially ‘humiliated and angry’ to be grouped with anorexics due to her thinness.
Ultimately though she accepted that she ‘was somewhat controlling’ her diet.
While in rehab, she went by the name ‘Mac’ to keep a low profile because of her concerns about being recognized.
Elle gave up alcohol after that rehab in 2003 and recently celebrated 20 years of sobriety.
Overcoming her addiction to alcohol was timely as she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017.
Elle, who is now in remission, brought her passion for spirituality to her newly-released memoir, sharing a little-known detail about her audiobook.
Elle gave up alcohol after her stint in rehab in 2003 and has adopted a more holistic approach to her health since, recently celebrating 20 years of sobriety
On The Kyle and Jackie O Show, Elle revealed how her boyfriend, musician Doyle Bramhall II, recorded music for each chapter of her audiobook to ‘heal’ listeners.
‘We scored the audiobook, but now we’re in the middle of putting a soundtrack out for the audiobook with the music he wrote for it,’ she shared.
‘Very unusual, but if anyone hasn’t had the chance to check that out, it’s really cool, he scored music that works with each chapter – for the beginning and end of the chapter – and it’s all infused with healing music.
‘It’s underneath his guitar or piano or whatever he’s playing, so when people listen to it, they are getting a benefit themselves for the reader.’
Elle recently copped backlash for ‘dangerously’ promoting the holistic treatment she received during her battle with breast cancer.
Elle went against the advice of 32 doctors by refusing chemotherapy after undergoing a lumpectomy for HER2 positive estrogen receptive intraductal carcinoma.
She instead underwent eight months of intense therapy with doctors in Phoenix, Arizona, detailing how she took a more holistic route in her memoir.
