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Carol McGiffin opens up about her struggles with alcohol: 'I've been drinking nearly every day'

Former Loose Women star lost her younger sister Tracey to cancer this year

Carol McGiffin
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Carol McGiffin has given a candid insight into her struggle to curb her alcohol intake. The former Loose Women star, 57, has confessed she can drink two bottles of wine a night. In her column for Best Magazine, she wrote: "[I've been drinking] nearly as much as everyone thinks, and nearly every day. Every time I get drunk, I say I'm never drinking again, but I always do. So I'll just say I'm not going to drink any more. But I'm not going to drink any less, either."

carol© Photo: Getty Images

Carol McGiffin has opened up about her struggles with alcohol

It's been eight months since Carol revealed her younger sister Tracey had passed away after losing her battle with cancer at the age of 53. Speaking about her sibling, she added: "We had some riotous times back then, we were really badly behaved, and got up to some terrible things. We had a lot of holidays too, to Spain and Greece. She wasn't really a drinker, but I always got her drunk somehow."

STORY: Carol McGiffin confirms younger sister has died four months after being diagnosed with disease

The TV star confirmed the news of Tracey's death in her column, almost a month after she publicly announced that her sibling had the terminal disease. At the time, Carol said: "When my little sister, Tracy, was diagnosed four months ago, it didn't seem real. I knew she was going to die, but I kind of hoped that it would be later, like, years away. Now, when I find myself saying the words, 'My sister died last weekend,' it still doesn't seem real. Perhaps because it hasn't properly sunk in yet, or that I'm just not ready to believe it."

Carol McGiffin© Photo: Rex

"Every time I get drunk, I say I'm never drinking again, but I always do," she said

STORY: Carol McGiffin on beating breast cancer

Carol was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2014, and given the all-clear in September 2015 after six rounds of chemotherapy and a mastectomy. Talking about her own experiences with the disease, Carol previously revealed: "Cancer is scary, but I don't see the point of getting emotional about it. So when my sister, Tracy, found a lump in her left breast - just like mine - three months ago, I said, 'Right, we'll find out what the treatment is, deal with it, and you'll be fine.' But she wasn't fine. I think, deep down, Tracy knew it was bad news. She'd been having massive headaches, and her co-ordination was off, she kept bumping into things. It was all very odd."