Rob Delaney marks 20 years of sobriety: ‘It can happen for you’

‘I’m shocked, and overwhelmed, and grateful,’ actor says

(Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Amazon Studios))

Rob Delaney has opened up about his sobriety journey, which he’s been on for the last 20 years.

In a video posted to Instagram on 4 February, Delaney, 45, shared that he’d been sober for “almost two decades”.

“I have been sober for 20 years, which is a long time,” he said. “I’m shocked, and overwhelmed, and grateful.”

The comedian recalled how 20 years ago, he was “in jail in a wheelchair”. But now, he said, he was on sitting on his couch, which had a “lovely quilt” on it, and his “life is unrecognisable”.

While discussing his sobriety, he also took a moment to thank his friends, family, and support system.

“I got a lot of help from a lot of wonderful people. I started doing volunteer work after I’d been sober for a while, and through that I met my wife 18 years ago, and we’ve had so many children together,” he explained. “And I had the courage to pursue the career that I really wanted to.”

He noted that things were not only “better now,” but he’s not “hungover” and isn’t wondering if he’s in the “beginning throes of schizophrenia”.

“My desire to drink was so palpable,” he said. “It was like personified; it felt like a thing in me being like, ‘Drink!,’ and I don’t have that anymore.”

Delaney concluded the video by expressing how grateful he is to be where he’s at now, along with words of encouragement for anyone who’s struggling with substance abuse.

“I just wanted to say thank you to everybody who’s helped me, and let people who might be struggling with drugs or alcohol know that there is a way out, and if it happened for me, it can happen for you,” he added. “Love to everyone.”

This isn’t Delaney’s first time getting candid about his sobriety. Back in 2019, the Home Sweet Home Alone star shared a post on Twitter in honour of 17 years of sobriety. At the time, it had been a year since his two-year-old son, Henry, had passed away due to brain cancer.

“I am profoundly grateful to the alcoholics who shined a light on the path for me and helped equip me with the skills to live life well,” he wrote.

“This has been a brutal year for my family and me. Our first year without our son and brother Henry,” he added. “Had I not been sober it would have been far worse.”

In December 2020, Delaney noted on BBC Radio 4 Today that he and his wife, Leah Delaney, have three other sons along with Henry. However, the actor didn’t mention his three kids’ names, so it appears that the couple is keeping their children’s personal lives under wraps.

Delaney has previously revealed what encouraged him to get sober, as well. In February 2021, Delaney shared a post on Instagram detailing why he was in jail many years ago.

“19 years ago today I was in jail with 2 badly broke arms,” he wrote. “I’d driven a car into a building while blacked out. Miraculously no one else was hurt. I’d been trying to quit drinking for years, but it took that accident to make me realise my drinking was deadly to the world at large.”

“I was thrilled with relief when doctors (and police and judges) suggest it might be alcoholism because I was beginning to worry it was schizophrenia toward the end,” Delaney recalled about the accident.

He ended this post by stating his “deepest gratitude to those who [helped him] along the way”.