Wednesday 22 June 2022 11:53 AM The Darkness' Justin Hawkins is a married vegan father-of-one who lives in ... trends now
He famously spent £150k of his estimated £6m fortune on cocaine, living a life of excess which caused him to quit band The Darkness in 2006, and go into recovery.
But rock star Justin Hawkins, 47, exclusively told MailOnline on Tuesday that he's now a happy vegan, married, father-of-one living a quiet life in rural Switzerland.
Catching up at London's Hard Rock Hotel to promote a new UK tour which sees the band co-headlining with Black Stone Cherry, the group seem happier than ever.
EXCLUSIVE: The Darkness' Justin Hawkins, 47, reveals he's swapped his drug-taking rock musician excesses to become a vegan father-of-one who lives a quiet life in rural Switzerland - (pictured with his wife, Sarah, in 2010)
Changed for the better: He famously spent £150k cocaine, living a life of excess which caused him to quit his band, The Darkness in 2006, and go into recovery, (pictured in 2017, six years after they reunited)
There's not a catsuit in sight on the flamboyant frontman, but Justin looks trendy and relaxed in a patterned shirt, khaki cropped trousers and red leather shoes, sporting a hat - a shorter crop of that famous long hair - and a moustache.
He said that during lockdown he kept busy teaching himself to play slide guitar 'for several hours a day' but wishes he learned to play piano and perhaps the language of the country he now lives in - Switzerland.
Married to Sarah Hawkins, with whom he shares a daughter, eight, whose name has not been revealed publicly, he said: 'They're the reason I live there, [because that's where his family live].
'I live in quite a rural part so the only time I am in contact with anyone English speaking folk is when I see my daughter.
'So those times are really important to me. I always block out her birthday in the calendar.'
Happy: Justin (bottom row, second from left), and the rest of The Darkness are co-headlinng a UK tour with rock band Black Stone Cherry - both bands pictured in London on Tuesday
In fact, Justin said was delighted when he was eliminated from The Masked Singer - in which he appeared as The Chameleon, in 2020, just two weeks into the series, because he would have missed his daughter's birthday otherwise, because he would have to have remained in the UK to film.
Justin lights up when talking about his little girl, who has never been pictured.
He said: 'She thinks I am cool, for now.
