Episode overview

We Saved Each Other From Addiction | Sarah Hiscox “I Wouldn’t Be Alive Without You”

Begin Again with Davina McCall · 2 July 2026 · 1h 12m · 4 Egleze moments

What happened in this episode?

Davina McCall interviews her best friend of 40 years, Sarah Hiscox, about her newly released memoir The Beginning and the End of Everything. The conversation reveals shocking details about Hiscox's lifelong struggle with addiction that began when a doctor prescribed her Mogadon, a powerful sleeping pill, at age 8. Hiscox describes growing up with an alcoholic mother who prized thinness and beauty above all, leading to severe bulimia and eventually heroin addiction. The episode centers on two profound interventions: McCall's 1988 confrontation with Hiscox about her heroin use, which led to McCall's own recovery, and years later when Hiscox confronted McCall in a car outside her flat, triggering McCall's journey to sobriety. Hiscox makes the controversial admission that she used heroin during her pregnancy with her second son, following a dangerous 3-days-on, 3-days-off pattern. Her addiction cost her everything: her husband Renshaw divorced her and took custody of their two sons. The ultimate love story unfolds when, after years of recovery and supervised visits, Renshaw asked Hiscox to remarry him the day after their divorce was finalized. They remarried in a small ceremony with their children, had a third child together, and remain deeply in love. The episode concludes with a letter from Hiscox's son Linus assuring his mother that despite her fears, she didn't damage her children but instead made their dreams come true. Both women credit each other with saving their lives and describe their bond as chosen family stronger than blood.

What are the key points?

Sarah Hiscox reveals that at age 8, a doctor prescribed her Mogadon, a highly addictive sleeping pill no longer available, starting a lifelong addiction pattern that she didn't recognize as abnormal until writing her memoir.
Hiscox admits to using heroin during her pregnancy with her second son Beach, following a 3-days-on, 3-days-off pattern based on non-medical advice, describing overwhelming guilt that the love for her children wasn't enough to stop her.
Davina McCall confronted Hiscox about her heroin use in 1988 in a car outside her flat, telling her people were talking about her, which triggered Hiscox to attend a recovery meeting the next day and never use again.
Hiscox's ex-husband Renshaw divorced her and took custody of their sons due to her heroin addiction, but after years of sobriety and supervised visits, asked her to remarry him the day after their divorce was finalized.
Both women describe a mutual lifesaving bond where McCall helped Hiscox begin recovery from heroin addiction and Hiscox later helped McCall through her own addiction crisis, creating a chosen family relationship spanning 40 years.
Hiscox struggled with severe bulimia which she describes as worse internally than heroin addiction, characterized by violent self-loathing and the shame of a disease with no glamour that kept her silent for years.
In a letter read during the interview, Hiscox's son Linus directly tells his mother that despite her fears about damaging her children, she made their dreams come true and they have only felt safe and loved.

Which topics are covered?

Health, Longevity & Biohacking Relationships & Family

How is this page sourced?

Programme: Begin Again with Davina McCall
Published: 2 July 2026
Duration: 1h 12m
Original episode: Open the original source ↗

Egleze verifies the speaker, source and timestamp for each linked moment. Unless a moment is explicitly marked independently verified, statements remain attributed claims by the named speaker rather than established facts.

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4 moments from this episode

Source-linked · editorially selected

Health, Longevity & Biohacking

Sarah Hiscox Reveals Doctor Prescribed Mogadon to Her at Age 8

at 7:17 · Attributed speaker claim

My mum took me to the local doctor and he gave me Mogadon. I wasn't aware until I started writing the book. It didn't really occur to me. But I mean, you know, it's one thing to give a grown woman something like that, but an 8-year-old child— Mogadon was what, a downer? It's a very powerful sleeping pill, right? You know, prescription-only sleeping pill. Yeah, that is not available anymore. Probably because it's so addictive and powerful.

Sarah Hiscox disclosed that at age 8, suffering from nightmares, her mother took her to a doctor who prescribed Mogadon, a highly addictive prescription sleeping pill. She was given it for two weeks and says she didn't fully realize how abnormal this was until writing her memoir. The drug is no longer available due to its addictive properties and is now understood to cause dependency within days.

Read this moment → Check original at 7:17 ↗

Relationships & Family

Davina McCall Confronted Best Friend in Car About Heroin Use

at 15:14 · Attributed speaker claim

I remember picking you up in my little mini Metro outside your flat, dad's flat. And you getting in the car and me turning to you and saying, listen, I'm really worried about you. Can I just say something? I'm back there. I can feel it. I'm right back in that car as well. So weird. So weird. It was dark, it was winter. But then the minute I got out of the car, I mean, your memory might— maybe I did crumble before. I mean, it was so long ago, right? But I cried all the way to the front door.

Davina McCall describes the pivotal moment in 1988 when she confronted her best friend Sarah Hiscox about her heroin addiction before a Santana concert. The intervention, which took place in McCall's car outside Sarah's father's flat, became the catalyst for Sarah attending her first recovery meeting the next day and never using again.

Read this moment → Check original at 15:14 ↗

Health, Longevity & Biohacking

Sarah Hiscox Admits Taking Heroin While Pregnant With Second Son

at 42:42 · Attributed speaker claim

I imposed this very strict rule on myself that I would use 3 days on, 3 days off, because somebody told me— not a doctor, obviously— um, that the baby wouldn't be born addicted to heroin. So that's what I did. And it was those 3 days off, all I could think about was those 3 days on. And then the 3 days on were just filled with this awful guilt, this terrible guilt of like, you know, who are you?

In a raw confession, Sarah Hiscox revealed she used heroin throughout her pregnancy with her second son Beach, following a non-medical 3-days-on, 3-days-off pattern in hopes the baby wouldn't be born addicted. She describes the experience as filled with overwhelming guilt and questions why the love for her children wasn't enough to stop her.

Read this moment → Check original at 42:42 ↗

Relationships & Family

Sarah Hiscox's Ex-Husband Proposed Remarriage Day After Divorce Finalized

at 56:56 · Attributed speaker claim

The day before, the decree absolute had come through. So bear in mind, the divorce was done, it was yesterday. And he said, there's something I need to tell you. And I was like, oh, my God, he's met someone else. And he said, do you want to try again? And I was like, what? What? And he said, do you want to try again? And I said, yes. Absolutely yes.

In a stunning turn of events, Sarah Hiscox's ex-husband Renshaw asked her to remarry him at dinner the day after their divorce was finalized. He had invited her to celebrate the divorce at a restaurant significant to their relationship, then asked if she wanted to try again. She moved back into the family home that weekend.

Read this moment → Check original at 56:56 ↗