Bandmates spotted Girls Aloud star’s booze blues

Speaking for the first time about her stint in a US clinic, Harding said her drinking went out of control as her relationship with ex-fiancé Tom Crane disintegrated and she tried to “numb” the pain.

She told Hello! magazine: “The day I left for rehab, I was in such a mess. I’ve been told by those close to me that was when I hit my worst. I was crying hysterically. I felt ashamed, embarrassed, terrified – my emotions were all over the place.”

Harding said she was ricocheting between emotional extremes as her wild living spiralled as a way to cope with being down.

The chart star – who scored hits such as Love Machine and Biology with the girl group – sought help for depression and alcohol abuse in October when her relationship with DJ Crane fell apart.

She said: “I was so down but I just tried to keep busy and, to numb myself, I was drinking more. It was my way of escaping.”

It was a dinner with bandmates Kimberley Walsh and Nicola Roberts that made her realise she had a problem. A night earlier she had appeared on the catwalk at a fashion show, then went out to celebrate. “I went too far, drank way too much,” she said.

But rather than toning it down the next day, her friends were shocked to see she merely picked up and carried on.

Harding said: “The following night, I saw Nicola and Kimberley for dinner. I wasn’t in a good state at all – I was very hungover. But the first thing I wanted to do was open a bottle of wine. I know they were really worried about me.”

The singer – who checked out of the clinic last month – feels she has now turned it around.

“I’ve turned 30 now and, although there will always be a bit of the rock chick in me, I’m trying to embrace my softer and more feminine side.

“And I am trying really hard to be healthy. I’ve realised I can socialise without booze.”