Jessica Simpson shares 'unrecognisable' photo after four years of sobriety

The singer and actress recently wrote of hitting 'rock bottom' in her autobiography

Jessica Simpson has announced four years of sobriety in a candid and raw Instagram post. EPA

Singer and actress Jessica Simpson has shared a raw photo of herself on Instagram with a candid caption announcing four years of sobriety, describing it as an "unrecognisable version" of herself.

Simpson, 41, said: "I needed to stop drinking alcohol because it kept my mind and heart circling in the same direction and quite honestly I was exhausted."

The make-up-free photo was taken on the morning she stopped drinking in 2017.

In the caption, she writes, "This person in the early morning of Nov 1, 2017 is an unrecognisable version of myself. I can't believe it has been 4yrs! It feels like maybe 2. I think that is a good thing. Ha.

"There is so much stigma around the word alcoholism or the label of an alcoholic. The real work that needed to be done in my life was to actually accept failure, pain, brokenness, and self sabotage.

"The drinking wasn't the issue. I was. I didn't love myself. I didn't respect my own power. Today I do. I have made nice with the fears and I have accepted the parts of my life that are just sad.

"I own my personal power with soulful courage. I am wildly honest and comfortably open. I am free."

The Dukes of Hazzard actress is married to former NFL player Eric Johnson. The couple have three children, Maxwell, 9, Ace, 8, and Birdie, 2.

In her autobiography Open Book, Simpson spoke about her battle with alcohol and described her "rock bottom" as Halloween 2017, when she says she "zoned out" and was unable to dress her children.

"I was terrified of letting them see me in that shape," Simpson wrote. "I am ashamed to say that I don't know who got them into their costumes that night."

She goes on to recall a conversation with friends the following day, saying: "I need to stop. Something's got to stop. And if it's alcohol that's doing this and making things worse, then I quit."