He’s a doting father and husband! In an exclusive interview with In Touch, Russell Brand opened up about how his life has changed for the better over the years. After battling heroin and alcohol issues, today the Get Him to the Greek Star is happily married to Laura Gallacher and they have a one-year-old daughter together named Mabel.

“I feel awakened and peaceful and connected and less in need of other people’s approval [Fatherhood] changed everything,” he explained. “With drugs and alcohol, the rock bottoms tend to be pretty obvious because they involve police and ambulances. But in ordinary life, any moment where you find yourself despairing and hopeless can be a rock bottom. For me, that can happen pretty easily.”

russell brand laura gallacher daughter getty images

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

The Forgetting Sarah Marshall star recalled one of these “rock bottom” moments, and it sounds like it was definitely time for changes. “A couple years ago when I was so heavily involved in politics in the UK, I got a lot of negative heat and press attention and felt a little bit lost
in the world. I felt like I could walk away from everything in my life. I didn’t feel connected to anything,” he shared.

“I took time out, I took a few years of and now my life is completely different. I listened to that feeling. I treated it as a signal, a message, an opportunity for change. Now I live a different life.”

In Touch spoke with Russell — who was married to Katy Perry from 2010-2012 — as he promoted his new book, Recovery: Freedom From Our Addictions. “The process I used to overcome heroin addiction has been equally useful in liberating me from attachment to negative relationships and negative forms of thinking,” he explained.

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