Singer Tom Grennan has revealed that he got sober after going missing for five days following the birth of his newborn daughter and fearing he would lose her.
The 31-year-old British musician shared the details of his recovery during a round of golf with host Matt Willis on the On The Mend podcast. Grennan explained that the turning point in his relationship with alcohol came after he attended an Oasis concert shortly after becoming a father.
Grennan married Pilates instructor Danniella Carraturo in May 2024, and the couple welcomed their daughter, Dottie, in the summer of 2025.
Five-day disappearance after an Oasis concert
Speaking to Willis, Grennan said that previous attempts to give up alcohol completely had left him feeling trapped until he eventually relapsed.
"I've now been properly sober, where I took it seriously," Grennan said. "I can't say, I'm not drinking ever again, because that's what I did before, and it ends up like you're in a pressure cooker and you go, I'm not doing it, and then you do it."
He recalled promising himself that he would stay sober when he went to watch the Manchester rock band Oasis, fronted by brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, only for the outing to spiral into a five-day absence from his family home.
"Then I go missing for five days. When I went to watch Oasis, I was like, I'm not drinking, not doing it, I'm just going to go there and enjoy it," Grennan said. "Then, lo and behold, I went mad and I did go missing, and I just had a kid, and I think everything was just on top."
Hiding his drinking and a message from an old friend
When Grennan eventually returned home to Carraturo and their newborn baby, he tried to conceal his intoxication and carried on drinking early the following morning.
"I remember getting home and trying to hide the fact that I was f***ed and hiding that I was still drinking on the second day, at 8:00 AM in the morning," he said. "My wife at the time had just had a baby, and she's trying to navigate that, and I'm f***ed, and I'm like, 'What's going on?'"
As he struggled to cope, an unexpected message from a friend named Paddy, whom Grennan had not spoken to in roughly eight years, prompted him to admit he needed support.
"My world's falling apart, and my friend, who I hadn't spoken to for probably eight years, messaged me out of the blue, and he was like, 'Are you okay?'" Grennan said. "And I was in such a heightened time with alcohol and what I was going to do to myself because I couldn't cope with it anymore. I felt like that was God talking to me [...] and [my friend] Paddy was like, 'I felt like I needed to talk to you.'"
"And I was like, 'Man, I need help.' And from that day, doing it properly, doing, like, my steps properly and talking about, like, the person I am and who I want to be."
Fears of losing his daughter and performing while intoxicated
Reflecting on how sobriety has changed his life, Grennan told Willis that giving up alcohol had cleared his head and allowed him to be far more attentive at home and in his work.
"A lot has changed. I think, like, the fog, the fog lifts off your head. I'm just so much more aware. I'm so much more present," he said.
He admitted that continuing to drink would have cost him both his daughter and his career, revealing that he had previously performed on stage while intoxicated and tried to hide his condition from those around him.
"You know, after having my daughter, I was like, if I carry on doing what I'm doing here, I'm gonna... I'm gonna lose her, one," Grennan said. "And two, I'm just gonna fail, you know? And not only that, man. Like, I think for me, like, respecting what we do. I was going on stage and I was f***ed. And I was hiding that. And I was going around, like, thinking, oh, yeah, I'm fine, I'm this and that."
"But respecting the people that are buying tickets and investing in you and who are fans of you, they deserve the respect and they deserve to have the best version of you."
Career background and reaction to becoming a father
Born in Bedford, Grennan first gained widespread recognition in 2016 as the guest vocalist on the Chase and Status track "All Goes Wrong" before releasing his debut solo album, Lighting Matches, in 2018. He went on to achieve UK number-one albums with Evering Road in 2021 and What Ifs and Maybes in 2023, alongside hit singles including "Little Bit of Love". His podcast host, Busted bassist Matt Willis, has also spoken publicly about his own struggles with addiction and recovery.
During the interview, Grennan also spoke candidly about his emotions immediately after Dottie was born, admitting he did not experience the instant wave of euphoria that friends had told him to expect.
"When I had a kid, everybody was like, 'Trust me, when this baby's born, you're going to get this mad rush of love.' And I was like, 'What? I'm up for that!', because I love, put me on any rush. I'm on a rush," he said. "And I was waiting for it. I didn't have that straight. I didn't have that. I was like, 'What am I meant to feel here? What am I meant to feel?'"
Instead, Grennan said his immediate reaction was a fierce sense of duty toward his child and his wife.
"Obviously I loved her, but it wasn't a mad, like, what I had, what I had was a rush of animal instinct," he said. "I have to protect. I have to provide, I have to protect, also my missus. I was f***ing more worried about her."
On The Mend with Matt Willis is available wherever listeners get their podcasts.
