Friday’s are usually very slow news days. But today I am slammed and I have more exclusive tea coming (I think I am supposed to make it a blind). So in other unexpected news, Fredrik Eklund has posted on his social media that he was a highly functioning alcoholic. I did not see this coming at all. He has been sober for 160 days. He also just posted that he and his team did THREE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS IN SALES THIS WEEK!
Fredrik post on his IG:
Today marks 160 days sober and it feels amazing. The basic stuff is that I have more energy and clarity, look and feel younger, sleep better with less stress and no anxiety. My body is singing, not aching.
I was a high-functional addict as many of us are, and it took me a while to realize and admit that. I’m a work in progress, still. The decision to stop wasn’t easy. But once I really decided, it was actually freeing. The pressure was off in a way. The pressure of not being honest. The pressure of often putting up a facade. The pressure and pain of not trusting myself towards the end. 160 days later and I don’t feel alone.
A Bright Outlook
The world is huge and full of possibilities. I don’t worry about the future like I used to. I don’t question my ability as a father the way I used to. Meanwhile business is growing rapidly even in these weird and scary times. But now to the surprising thing: I’m actually more fun. This of course is the scariest thing for people like myself that used to drink socially: how to entertain at dinners and be outgoing at parties?
Let me tell you a little story so it’s perhaps more tangible. Last week at French Laundry in Napa I immediately told the waiter we were celebrating me being sober. I also wanted to be fresh in the morning for the horseback riding. The mixologist created a non-alcoholic pairing. A real pairing as in using the chef’s ingredients for each course and making 14 mocktails for the 14 courses. This was a first for the restaurant and I told them I think this is the future for the industry.
Accepting Change
We laughed hysterically at dinner. We went deeper into the conversations. And when I kissed the horse in the sunrise, I remembered every detail of the night. Also, I felt something entirely new: being Proud of myself! When you’ve stop drinking, people around you can get defensive as in ‘well I don’t have a problem, I don’t even drink that much,’ as if I’m critiquing them. I’m not. This is about me. Sharing my reality and hoping to inspire those who need it.
So here we are. I guess a new chapter is starting for me now. Life 2.0 – a life that’s bigger than alcohol. I’m excited to see where it brings me. Thank u all for supporting me.
A whole lot of people including hopefully some housewives will be inspired by this post. Am I the only one shocked by this? I thought Fredrik was the most together person in the world. And those babies are truly the most beautiful children in the world. Bravo, Fredrik Eklund. Bravo.
More to come, Banjo and I were up all night waiting to see if the tornados were going to hit us and slept in today. I got a whole lot of exclusive tea today and I am really too tired to turn it into a post. I will have a juicy one for you tomorrow. Probably a blind. Thanks for reading.
Wow, good for him! That’s not an easy thing to admit. But secrets keep you sick. Keep up the good work Fredrik!! And thanks for the honesty, it helps all of us.
I am suprised! I recall him having cocktails and the occasional wildish celebrations.
Good for him! Nothing but good can come from this for his family and business!
Good for him for discussing this. He has a beautiful family to help keep him on this path
So happy for him!!!! Yes, his children are beautiful!
Good for him Maybe now he can help heal his relationships with Josh and Heather Altman since Heather said on the radio yesterday that their relationship is still very strained. Apparently they are still upset that he did not disclose to the both of them he was moving to Beverly Hills and would have a competing office in the area. Nevermind. I think I prefer them being close and socializing with Josh Flagg and Bobby instead.
Correction: Fredrick IS an alcoholic. Only now he’s one who is living a sober life. Good for him, his husband and his children,
I knew someone would “correct me” on that. It’s the same reason I tagged it with “sobriety” and not alcoholism. People can actually conquer addiction. Maybe he has, maybe he will “fall off the wagon” The whole once an addict/alcoholic thing is an AA/NA thing. We don’t all have to agree with it. Stop making this about you. Or whatever you have heard somewhere or being “politically correct. This is not about you. Isn’t that a sign?
Thanks you, TT, for sayiing this out loud. The success rate for 12 step programs are minuscule, but the profits for those in the biz are phenomenal. I am happy there are those who find sobriety in these programs, but a lack of sobriety has many possible causes. 12 step programs work for some, but a one size-fits-all path is biological nonsense. For example, a cousin by marriage wiped out his parental retirement with a series of 12-step based “rehab” programs, It was decades before it was discovered he was self-medicating his undiagnosed Addison’s disease. My nephew self-medicated with a variety of substances due to untreated schizophrenia. At the time no schizophrenia treatment program would accept him because of substance abuse. It was a couple of decades after that before the 12 step program-saturated profession finally accepted the empirical evidence that self-medication for schizophrenic was a valid response for patients, & eventually programs opened up for those individuals. Right now I have no idea of the location of my nephew, nor do I even know whether or not he is dead. Much of the medical profession, including my new gynecologist, is still so frightened by the silly studies showing that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for women does not prevent heart disease (duh, it was never intended to do that), that they are refusing HRT to women who need it, thus condemning them to either estrogen deprivation mental problems, including uncontrollable rages & a host of other problems including marital, or lives of self-medication with alcohol/other substances. 12 step programs have become a sacred cow (similar in my mind to the routine genital mutilation of newborn male infants) of American culture & medicine. Why? Because both practices are so dang profitable to those in particular professions. Yes, there are genuine advocates of these practices who truly believe in these practices, but there are all too many tragic failures (including the grandson of my best friend,who was permanently sexually deformed due to a botched infant circumcision), & yes, including deaths. The tolls on Americans cannot even be accurately calculated, & we will never know the true figures. Ignorance among professionals has saturated our culture, & the only real cure I see is education. That’s why I’m sticking with my new GYN. She’s young & I think I can further her education.
AA is in fact a sacred cow. First of all, if it worked for you, I admire you all so much. But if it makes you in any way feel less than… it should not. not be the only place togfo Also, can I come to her as my GYN?
Well, you are the same shade–
I overcame alcoholism with the help of a world renowned psychiatrist in the area of mindfulness who discouraged labelling oneself in perpetuity like they do in AA. It was vital to accept my innate propensity to abuse alcohol and drugs, and it took years to overcome and a lot of hard work, but I do not go around calling myself an alcoholic. It’s just not a hat I wear any longer, but I did at a dark time in my life.
I really appreciate your thoughts in this. I am an alcoholic and I call myself one mostly to my family to assure them that I am honest with my addiction but I like your take on things. It’s much more confident and positive. Thank you
You’re right. It’s not about me. A heavy drinking year for me is four drinks. I note that Fredrick stopped drinking entirely. He didn’t just cut back, indicating that he thinks he would have a problem if he tried to drink limited amounts of alcohol. I wish him the best, as I do everyone who undertakes to combat their issues.
Bravo Frederik. Wow, lowkey this is such a wake up call & a reminder that you never know truly what someone is going through & how they cope. The thought would’ve never crossed my mind but that is growth & truly adulting. I’m so impressed by the fact that he found himself all on his OWN, he recognized it and addressed it. That’s how you live loud & proud, nobody can ever shame Frederik, he truly is his own man.
Happy for him.
I figured he was a cokehead based on his every level, but hey whatever. Glad hes dealing with it, especially with 2 young kids.
He has been if not a source of contention between us, at the least a point of disagreement. I never really much cared for him because I always thought he was ridiculously over the top. I’ve generally, and rather harshly I suppose, thought of him as a shallow person.
But then I read this:
“We laughed hysterically at dinner. We went deeper into the conversations. And when I kissed the horse in the sunrise, I remembered every detail of the night. Also, I felt something entirely new: being Proud of myself! When you’ve stop drinking, people around you can get defensive as in ‘well I don’t have a problem, I don’t even drink that much,’ as if I’m critiquing them. I’m not. This is about me. Sharing my reality and hoping to inspire those who need it.”
I’ve changed my mind, he’s capable of considered introspection for which until you posted this I would not have given him credit.
You were right about him though maybe a bit premature.
I’ve always sensed that Frederik is a razor-sharp, complex man with a pretty good heart, who underneath the surface of his driven, manic hyperactivity, was wrestling with lots of things. As someone else said, I had thought that he may have used a substance (like coke) that contributed to his “energizer bunny” manner. He can also be cruel and shady AF- again- I feel like he’s a pretty complex person.
So very happy for him, and hope and pray that he can make his sobriety stick for the long haul.
I never really got that impression, but I sort of see it now. That some of his antics were drug or alcohol induced pretty much never crossed my mind but I can see how that could be the case.
I like the way you Post Kat. It’s generally thought provoking for me.
Awwh, thank you, Forum Dude!! You made my day- hugs…..
I am very surprised by this as I recall Fredrik once labelled himself as a ‘health freak’ during the show.
In one episode Bravo showed Fredrik selling houses in north Sweden, and he was a completely different person than in NY or LA when talking to people during an open house event. Very serious and more held back.
That actually doesn’t surprise me. I’ve met a few Swedes and what I found about them is that they tend to be more reserved. Sort of makes sense he would tone it down for them there. In the states I suppose hamming it up is a net positive for him. I mean I don’t particularly care for it, but I’m also not the typical viewer so…
I’m swedish myself and travelled quite a bit between Stockholm and NY for some time, I was acting the same wherever. But, it is probably different to be a broker like Fredrik than for a fashion illustrator like I am. It is not the same money…!
I think we are about to see him act crazy on the new season of MDLNY (which they’ve started advertising) and this is him jumping ahead of the story. He never seemed like an alcoholic and seemed very in control. I also remeber he was totally addicted to green tea for a while. Maybe the move to LA was hard for him or not good for him. We all know he loved New York and absolutely thrived there. Also he was probably away from his family filming MDLNY during COVID, which may have pushed him to drink more. So yeah it seems a bit fishy. There’s a scene in the preview where he’s throwing all these paranoid accusations at Ryan which makes me wonder if we are about to watch the wheels fall off the bus.