"I feel so much better" - The Bachelorette alum DeAnna Pappas opens up on being sober and her 'affair' with alcohol

American television personality DeAnna Pappas, as she celebrated the launch of Ben Higgins' Famously Available podcast, in an exclusive interview with US Weekly, opened up about her sobriety and her "affair" with alcohol.

The 43-year-old DeAnna Pappas, who gained popularity after starring in season 11 of the ABC reality TV series The Bachelor, released in September 2007, and season 4 of The Bachelorette, released in May 2008, shared how her saying no to alcohol was the best decision of her life. DeAnna Pappas told US Weekly:

"It's been the best decision that I ever could have made. I feel so much better. I sleep really great, which is awesome. And the other piece is I’ve become more clear on myself and more in touch with myself and also my higher power."

DeAnna Pappas, who was married to television personality Stephen Stagliano, shares two kids, Addison and Austin, with him. She tied the knot with Stagliano in 2012 but split from him in January 2023, finalizing their divorce in June 2024.

While she had a serious custody battle with Stagliano at the time of their divorce, they now co-parent their kids. As per US Weekly, Stagliano, in June 2025, revealed that DeAnna Pappas was sober for more than 60 days. During her exclusive interview, DeAnna revealed what made her quit alcohol and live a life without it. She said:

"I had dealt with a lot of loss in my life. … I had to grieve on every level. I didn’t just grieve the loss of my marriage and my ex-husband, but the loss of his family, and in moments where I was in deep amounts of pain and sadness, I chose to drink. I mean, my affair was with alcohol and that’s my piece to carry."

DeAnna Pappas further added:

"I have chosen to give up alcohol. It clearly was unhealthy for me. … I just took a deep look at my life and where it was going, and it wasn’t headed in a direction where I wanted to and if alcohol was the one thing that I could give up, then, by all means, I was willing to do it."

DeAnna Pappas claims that quitting alcohol had benefits not only for her but also for her children

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DeAnna Pappas shared that living a life without alcohol was the best thing; however, she also said that quitting alcohol had its own benefits for her as well as for her kids. She said:

"I'm so present every day with my kids. I go to events and I no longer need the crutch of alcohol to feel like I belong because deep down, I always have belonged. But I started to use this unhealthy coping mechanism to feel better about myself, and I don’t want to do that anymore. Honestly, I feel like I have a servant’s heart, and if at the end of the day, if what I have had to go through touches just one person, brings one person hope to be different, or to choose to be different, or to make changes in their life, that’s all I can hope for. If my story touches one person, then that would make me so happy."

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