The Next Chapter

Fifteen years ago, boxing gave Sean what drink and cocaine never could. A focus. A way through. Twenty-six fights and nine years sober later, his ex stopped him seeing his son, and three weeks back on it took him to the lowest point of his life. Twenty months of family court later, he's raising his boy full time. And to do it, he's walked away from the sport that saved him. Sean was rele...

For 20 years Matt's drinking looked completely normal. Then COVID turned it into four or five nights a week. There was no rock bottom. Just a Champions League night with his son, three or four pints he never planned on, and a car he had to leave behind.  Five months later he's alcohol-free, back on the golf course, and his 14-year-old son has told him he doesn't plan on drinking whe...

Russell Grant had the business, the money, the six-pack on the gym floor — and privately, he was £30,000 in debt, binge drinking three or four nights a week, and building what he now calls 'his own prison.'  Nobody could see it. Everyone thought he was winning. In this episode, Luke talks to Russell about the moment everything had to change — becoming a father, doing the deep internal wo...

James Russell laid floors for a living, working every hour going because he never knew when the next job would come. Then a motorbike accident put him in a hospital bed next to a stranger who was still earning money from his laptop — and that was the moment everything started to shift. In this episode, Luke sits down with his old friend James to talk about the decade of "all hours" trade...

Andrew's weekends used to start on a Thursday. Five, six, seven, eight beers in, and he'd have no idea where the night would end up. Now he's over a thousand days alcohol-free and training for his first ultra marathon, often with his son by his side. In this episode Andrew opens up about the years he spent telling himself he wasn't doing anything wrong. Just having a laugh, not...

At 14 he was sending mates into the corner shop in Middlesbrough. By his twenties he was running a charity and a digital agency at the same time, drinking to cope with the pressure of both. Two years ago he stopped completely — and today he runs breathwork and meditation retreats from the Lake District to Crete. Michael's story isn't about hitting rock bottom in the dramatic sense. It&ap...

Alex spent two decades in the motor trade earning good money, until one thought wouldn't leave him alone: grind, retire, die — is this really it?  So he emptied his family's entire savings, walked away from the only career he'd ever known, and started a podcast with one rule — every guest gets asked the same question: who are you? Twenty-eight days after posting his first clip, he&a...

For over two decades, Olivia's drinking followed the same pattern. Fine for months, then unable to stop at one once she started. No lost job, no lost marriage — just a private cycle she couldn't explain to herself. It took a panic attack in a Spanish hotel room, convinced she was going to die and leave her kids without a mum, to finally break it. Nearly eight years later, she's alco...

Amy Devine had her first drink at eleven years old. By her late twenties she was waking up on a flight to Beijing with a broken elbow and zero memory of how it happened. Today she's been sober since January 2023, runs the Sober Sisterhood Community, and helps other women put the drink down for good. This is the story of everything that happened in between. Amy grew up watching violence in her...

Ross Rolph spent years holding the worst days of other people's lives together as a police officer — walking into chaos, staying calm on the outside, saying nothing about what it was doing to him on the inside. His mind was racing every single day, running on nothing. Nobody knew. That's the part of this episode that'll stop you. Ross's anxiety didn't start with the job. I...

In five years, Adam Woollett lost all three of his grandparents, went through a divorce, and became a single parent dad to his five-year-old son. He hasn't had a drink since he was 18. Adam's an electrician, an old mate of mine from my building site days, and one of the most emotionally honest blokes I know. This episode isn't about quitting drinking — Adam's never needed to.  ...

At the height of her career, Liane was competing for England and Great Britain in beach volleyball — podiums, titles, everything that's supposed to mean you've made it. Behind it, she was falling apart. Years of pressure, an inner critic that never switched off, and a body stuck permanently in fight or flight had pushed her into a full mental health crisis. She'd built her whole ide...

At 59, Norman Calvo was a successful mortgage banker who couldn't climb a flight of subway stairs without getting winded — and was missing out on life with his grandkids.  Today, at 72, he's a half-marathon runner, a whole-food plant-based eater who's lost over 70 pounds (5 stone), and someone who's made it his mission to prove that aging doesn't mean slowing down. In this...

Jamie Blair traded a career in law for something far less predictable — building Roots, a thriving cafe business on the Isle of Man that's become as much a community hub as a coffee shop.  In this episode, Jamie opens up about the early days of brewing soft drinks in a utility room, the setbacks that nearly derailed him, and why he now sees failure as fuel rather than a full stop. We talk abo...

Tom James had his first stroke at 24. He was drinking heavily, battling ADHD and bipolar disorder, and using alcohol to numb everything he didn't want to face. The stroke should have been enough. It wasn't. What finally made him stop? A hallucination at a festival — his future son, begging him to change. In this episode, Tom shares the raw, unfiltered truth of what addiction looks like f...

What does it actually take to leave everything behind and start again? Izzy packed up her life in California — as a young mum escaping crime, negativity, and a life that no longer felt like hers — and moved to the Isle of Man. No playbook. No guarantee. Just a gut feeling that something had to change. In this episode of The Next Chapter, Izzy gets raw and honest about the real challenges of uproot...

What happens when you stop pretending and start actually living? In this episode of The Next Chapter, I sit down with Marty Bailey — Leadership and Resilience Coach from Liverpool — who opens up about his raw journey from anxiety and depression to building a life grounded in authenticity, discipline, and self-leadership. Marty doesn't sugarcoat it. He talks about hitting rock bottom, using me...

Sarah Myers spent years looking like she had it all together. Military background, career, three kids. But behind the scenes? She was drinking to cope, slowly losing herself, and missing the moments that mattered most. In this episode, we get real about what high-functioning alcoholism actually looks like, why alcohol is so insidiously normalised — especially for parents — and what it takes to fin...

What do you do when your wife tells you she's done — and you know deep down it's your fault? Mark Cox didn't run. He turned his rock bottom into a mission. In this episode, I sit down with Mark — a former psychiatric nurse turned marriage recovery coach — who opens up about his own infidelity, alcohol, and the moment he realised he was living a double life. We get into the real root...

She ran away with the circus at 17. By 40, alcohol had taken over. This is Abi King's story. Abi King is an alcohol-free coach and host of The Sober Connection podcast. Originally from the UK, now living in New Zealand, she's turned one of the hardest chapters of her life into a mission — helping others find their way out of the drinking cycle. In this episode we get into the real stuff....

What happens when you stop drinking—and start backing yourself properly? In this educational interview, I’m joined by Frazer Kendall , creator of the TikTok DIY platform @fixitwithfraz , as he shares the real story behind his sobriety, personal transformation, and the mindset shift that helped him rebuild his life. We talk about the hidden costs of alcohol (the anxiety, shame, money, and the &apos...

What does it actually take to rebuild confidence as a man in your 40s, 50s, or beyond—especially when you’ve hit a low point, lost your spark, or feel like you’re just 'getting through' life? In this educational interview, I’m joined by Mitch Simpson —martial arts instructor turned mindset coach—who shares how discipline, self-love, and vulnerability can become the foundation for real pe...

In this episode of The Next Chapter , Luke Jones sits down with Rachel Murrey for a powerful conversation about what happens when you stop living by the rules you inherited… and start living by what actually feels true. Rachel shares her journey from corporate life to spiritual awakening, and we get into the real stuff: societal conditioning, people-pleasing, fear, imposter syndrome, and the quiet...

In this episode of The Next Chapter , I’m joined by Emma Walsh — a trauma-informed coach and entrepreneur — for a proper deep conversation about burnout, nervous system safety, and what trauma can quietly do to your confidence, relationships, and business decisions . Emma breaks down the trauma spectrum (it’s not always the 'big obvious stuff'), why trauma is stored emotion in the body ,...

What happens when you realise alcohol has become your “home”… and you decide to burn that version of home to the ground? In this episode of The Next Chapter , I’m joined by Eamon Kearney —Irish immigrant living in Massachusetts, father, sober runner, and author of the upcoming memoir ' The Long Way Home.' We get into the real stuff: adoption, early trauma, Irish drinking culture, and how...