Supermodel Jodie Kidd’s fiancé Joseph Bates has bravely opened up about his struggle with alcohol as he reveals his failed attempt to go sober last year.
The former Royal Marine, 40, who has been engaged to the 47-year-old catwalk icon since 2021, reflected candidly on his relationship with drinking and the ‘selfishness, self-doubt, and negative tendencies’ that creep in whenever he consumes alcohol.
Taking to Instagram, the entrepreneur wrote: ‘I stopped drinking last year for nine months. I struggled with alcohol – not so much the amount I drank (although I did go for it often), but more with how it affected how I felt and, more importantly, how I treated others.’
He continued: ‘Selfishness, self-doubt, and negative tendencies always crept in when alcohol was thrown into the mix, so I decided to stop.’
However, after nine months of abstinence, Joseph – who has been in a relationship with pub landlord Jodie since 2017 – tried to reintroduce drinking last summer, believing he had ‘changed’ during his time away from alcohol.
‘It had been long enough without it, so surely I had changed?’ he wrote. ‘Surely my monk-like thinking would never allow the ‘regret fuel’ to take hold again and drag me back to my historic negative ways?
Supermodel Jodie Kidd’s fiancé Joseph Bates has bravely opened up about his struggle with alcohol as he reveals his failed attempt to go sober last year
‘Oh dear. How wrong I was. After my sober lubricant renaissance, all the thoughts came flooding back. Negative self-worth and impostor syndrome ran through my veins, and I was suddenly feeling like I had years ago.’
He added: ‘Alcohol is a medically proven progressive tissue for those who experience detrimental thoughts and take detrimental actions when consuming it – aka, you get worse at it the more you practise it. That’s f*cked up.’
Following that failed attempt, Joseph – who started dating Jodie in 2017 after they met yet before through raising money for a military charity – revealed he has now been sober since last summer.
‘Since that so-called renaissance last summer, I haven’t drunk again. And honestly, I needed to revisit it to fully understand my allergy to it,’ he wrote.
‘Drastic change only happens when you truly want it. So how is life now without the oops potion, memory eraser, and bad-decision fluid? F*cking incredible.’
The CEO of online therapy platform Halen went on to describe the transformative effects of sobriety on his life, saying he had ‘never felt so content across all aspects of my life – work, family, and everything else my strange mind, body, and spirit interacts with’.
He added: ‘It’s not just the clarity of thought it gives you, but the clarity of awareness – the ability to witness the most beautiful things you’d previously miss because the chimp in your mind was going absolutely bat-s***.’
‘I’m simply writing this for anyone who has tried – or wanted – to kick alcohol but couldn’t. For those who know it doesn’t make them feel like the best version of themselves. Trust yourself. Trust the universe.’
Taking to Instagram, the entrepreneur wrote: ‘I stopped drinking last year for nine months. I struggled with alcohol – not so much the amount I drank (although I did go for it often), but more with how it affected how I felt and, more importantly, how I treated others’
Joseph proposed to Jodie during a romantic trip to Paris in 2021, though the couple have yet to tie the knot.
Former Top Gear star Jodie revealed her partner’s proposal came while she was soaking in the bath at their hotel.
‘I thought he was bending down to have a chat with me, but suddenly he came out with it,’ she said at the time. ‘I was a bit shocked.’
In 2024, Jodie admitted they’d put their wedding plans on hold due to their busy work schedules.
She told OK!: ‘Oh my god, it is going very slowly. Very slowly! Nothing is happening in the immediate future and not because I don’t want it to, but I am just so busy. I think it would be too much trying to arrange a wedding right now. Hopefully, next year.’
The year before that, she had said the venue and dressmaker were sorted – ‘we’ve just got to actually get a date’.
The model was previously married to internet entrepreneur Aidan Butler for 18 months until 2007, and then author David Blakeley for just four months in 2015.
Jodie, who became the owner of The Half Moon pub in Kirdford, West Sussex, in 2017, shares 14-year-old son Indio with her ex-partner, Argentinian polo player Andrea Vianini.
Speaking about her relationship with Joseph in the past, Jodie has praised the former serviceman for bringing a ‘wonderful calm’ to her ‘bonkers’ life.
Joseph – who has been in a relationship with Jodie since 2017 – tried to reintroduce drinking last summer, believing he had ‘changed’ during his time away from alcohol
‘With his military background, he hasn’t got any issues or ego,’ she previously said. ‘He brings a wonderful calm to my wonderfully bonkers life.’
The couple first met when Jodie was raising money for a military charity, and she later asked Joseph to join her in Dominica to help with Hurricane Irma relief efforts in 2017.
Joseph, who served with UK Special Forces including the Special Boat Service in Afghanistan, lost his father to Pick’s disease (a form of Alzheimer’s) when he was 17, which led him to join the Royal Marines.
After leaving the military, he co-founded Halen, an app that provides access to therapy and mental health support, drawing on his own experiences with mental health challenges following his time in combat.
