Traitors icon Harriet reveals she lost 4st after going sober and says alcohol made her 'a terrible barrister' amid 34 year booze battle - despite bragging about law career during explosive exit

The Traitors star Harriet Tyce lost a a whopping four stone after quitting booze in 2024 - following a 34 year battle with alcohol. 

The crime writer and former barrister, 53, caused ructions on Wednesday night's episode of the show when she was banished from the castle having launched a vicious crusade to expose actual Traitor Rachel Duffy. 

Having kept her law career secret from her co-stars, in her bid to unmask Rachel, she informed her fellow contestants that she was previously a barrister.

Despite using her law career as a trump card to showcase her ability to catch a swindler, in a 2024 article written for The Observer about her drinking, she claimed to have been 'a terrible barrister' due to her alcohol abuse. 

Harriet's Instagram account is frequently an ode to her recovery, with a host of images showing her image transformation thanks to her retirement from drinking - with her huge weight loss shown in a number of before and after images. 

Shortly before her departure from the castle, Harriet declared she's 'coming' for villain Rachel after revealing her true identity - having kept her career secret from her co-stars in a bid to mask her abilities to sniff out criminals.

Since she hit screens, her book sales have soared as intrigue surrounds the now-TV icon, while her past battles and recovery will undoubtedly wow fans. 

A slew of images on her Instagram show the transformation of her image since she quit alcohol on 7 June 2022, having revealed she was ruining her life.

Despite bragging of her abilities on the show, in her 2024 first-person piece about her alcoholism, she wrote: 'I was systematically sabotaging myself, falling over in chambers in front of senior barristers and turning up late and hungover the next day.'

She conceded: 'I wasn’t sabotaging my work any more and besides, I’d been a terrible barrister. Crime writing’s the sort of job you’d expect a drinker to do. But alcohol still took up too much space in my mind.'

Harriet cited Ozzy Osbourne's words: '“They either give up at 50 or they’re dead by the time they’re 60", and how they resonated with her. 

She continued: 'To return to Ozzy Osbourne, what he’s talking about is known as sniper’s alley, this time in our early 50s when it’s the last chance to make changes before we start being picked off one by one...

'A couple of friends have already succumbed to addictions, their premature deaths awful to see. I’ve maybe left it too late to undo the damage I’ve done to myself...

'But I’m giving it my best shot. Yoga, weights, running. I might even give cold water swimming a go'.

On Instagram, Harriet branded herself 'an advert' to stop drinking, with a throwback image showing her heavier self before losing weight from quitting. 

Alongside an image of her piece for The Observer, she wrote on the photosharing site: 'There were a lot of professional achievements in 2024 of which I’m very proud...

'But the achievement that really counts for me is that I kept on keeping on with not drinking and had the opportunity to write about why I made the decision to go sober...

'I’m grateful on a daily basis that I’ve got out in time. Some days are harder - I miss the good time me that kept necking it down thinking I’d live forever, but I’m a lot happier now (and weigh 4 stone less which is a lot easier on my aging knees!)'. 

Having quit her work as a barrister, her crime writing took off in style, as her book sales have soared since her debut, having seen a huge increase in her readership.

Harriet, originally from Edinburgh, has released three books so far in her career, with a new novel called Witch Trial set to hit shelves next month. According to The Book Seller, sales have increased by an incredible 95.6% since she first hit screens.

The publication says copies purchased have shot up from typically 181 copies to 354, with her recent novel A Lesson in Cruelty credited for the increase.

Meanwhile, in the first week of January, The Lies You Told recorded 263 copies – 93.4% more than the previous week.