JULIE WALTERS - WALTERS CREDITS LOVE FOR SOBERING UP

Actress JULIE WALTERS believes falling in love with husband GRANT ROFFEY saved her from becoming an alcoholic.

The BILLY ELLIOT star, 54, met Roffey in 1985 and quickly curbed her heavy partying and alcohol dependency following the international success of 1983 movie EDUCATING RITA which propelled her into the spotlight.

The OSCAR-nominated Briton says, "My wild years of drinking in the early 80s were a combination of being young and single and suddenly becoming famous, which made me question whether I could be the person that fame had turned me into.

"I was going out and getting slaughtered on champagne and not having any kind of domestic life whatsoever - until I met Grant in 1985, and it just stopped.

"You should always marry your best friend, and it's only in the past ten years that I've realised that Grant is mine."