Today Extra host David Campbell celebrates six years of sobriety

David Campbell celebrated six years of sobriety on Sunday.

The 46-year-old Today Extra host tweeted on Sunday that he had gone ‘2,190 days without a drink’ and that his only regret was not quitting alcohol sooner.

‘Today I have been sober for six years. 2,190 days without a drink. It has been a gift. I wish I had done it sooner,’ he wrote.

‘I wish I was sober for all of [son] Leo’s early years. But it’s great to be here now. Present. Aware. Open. To those struggling now, stay strong. Don’t judge yourself.’

He also urged fans who may be struggling with similar issues to seek help, and not to use coronavirus closures as an excuse to avoid addressing their problems. 

‘I know AA meetings are happening online. It can be incredibly hard but the reward is living the best life. Clear and awake. With more energy for your family. It’s never too late. It can always be Day 1,’ he added.  

David has spoken openly about his battle with alcohol in the past, admitting that while he wasn’t an addict, it was a slippery slope.

‘I was a part of our “booze culture”. Was I an alcoholic? No. Did I have the propensity to become one? Yes. Very much so,’ he wrote in an editorial for The Daily Telegraph in April 2015.

‘There is addiction on both sides of my family and I was standing at the doorway of a very dark room.’

David is the son of legendary rocker Jimmy Barnes, who has been open about his own issues with alcohol.

‘My father has, one could say, a reputation of being the hardest partying rock star Australia has produced…’ David wrote for The Daily Telegraph. 

‘As he told me today on the phone, “I should have frightened you off booze.” Except it didn’t. It kind of had the opposite effect.’ 

The father of Leo, nine, and twins Billy and Betty, five, with wife of 12 years, Lisa Campbell, said he ultimately chose to get sober for his family.

‘I grew up around that. I saw my dad struggle with addiction and I also saw how devastating an impact that could have on children, and on me, due to alcohol-related incidents in my family,’ he told The Father Hood last year.

He added: ‘I knew that that wasn’t the way to parent. You don’t want to put a child at risk of that.’