This Morning host Ben Shephard was forced to apologise as he and his co-host Cat Deeley welcomed singer Lulu to the ITV daytime show
Meghna Amin Screen Time Reporter
11:23, 24 Sep 2025
This Morning host Ben Shephard was compelled to intervene during today’s ITV daytime show.
The presenter, appearing alongside Cat Deeley, invited Shout legend Lulu onto the programme to chat about her autobiography, where she candidly discussed her battle with alcoholism.
During the interview, Lulu disclosed how she had concealed her addiction from loved ones before entering rehabilitation.
“I struggled for years secretly; nobody knew I was an alcoholic,” she began.
When questioned “how bad was it?” she responded: “It was never bad because I was a ‘fall down drunk’. No one ever saw me,” reports Wales Online.
She then disclosed a telephone conversation with Elton John, repeating his exact words: “Elton said to me, ‘How the f**k did I miss that?'”
The This Morning presenters were forced to step in(Image: ITV)
Cutting in, Ben remarked: “Elton has an interesting choice vocabulary, we just need to be careful because it’s quite early! So apologies.”
“So sorry, I’m so sorry,” Lulu responded.
Lulu continued by saying she felt “so ashamed” of her dependency, adding: “I’d go out and have a drink, a couple of drinks, but it was then when I’d go home that I would have another drink.
Lulu on This Morning(Image: ITV)
“You’ll know you’re an alcoholic if you can’t stop.
“I have a lot of friends who have a drink and say, ‘I’ve had enough,’ but I couldn’t do that.
“I was a highly functioning alcoholic, that’s why nobody knew.
“I would fall asleep sozzled, but I’d set the alarm, wake up for work the next day, brush myself off and go to work.”
Lulu appeared on BBC Breakfast earlier today(Image: BBC)
Lulu shared a poignant conversation with her sister, where she realised her family might have been aware of her battle with alcohol, stating “the cat was out of the bag”.
She said: “It was as if somebody up there likes me, I now have to share it, I couldn’t ask for help before but at that moment, I looked at my sister and said, ‘I have to go to rehab, right?’ She said, ‘I think so,’ and I was there the next day.”
Wrapping up the interview, she expressed gratitude saying: “All I can say is, I’ve had so much help, I’m so lucky.”
The singer spoke about her addiction ahead of her new memoir(Image: Getty Images for Disney)
On BBC Breakfast earlier today, Lulu broke down in tears talking about her struggles, describing alcohol as somewhat of a “family disease” and said it was “obviously in my genes”.
“To be very honest about my parents, they were chaotic,” she explained. “And they would throw things, and the noise was hellacious. That was difficult.”
The singer began to become emotional as she added: “But, you know, I loved my parents… I miss them… but I also hated their behaviour.”
“I have resilience, which I’m very grateful for,” she added. “Because no matter how many times I’ve fallen down, I bounce up again.”
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX.