Millie Mackintosh has opened up on how she's learned to 'enjoy being alone' and starting to choose herself - following the news of her shock split from husband Hugo Taylor.

The former Made In Chelsea star, 36 appeared on podcast, A Millennial Mind, this week, where she spoke about rebuilding her identity after going sober.

Detailing how her decision to give up booze had impacted her life, she explained that it has made her start re-evaluating who she was and what she liked doing, describing it as 'burning down the old me'.

Millie said that now she had gotten to know and love herself enough to get to a place where she could enjoy her own company and had begun to 'start stepping into the woman that I truly want to be.'

While she added that she was excited for the future, after recently starting to choose herself - just two weeks after she and Hugo, 39, called time on their seven-year marriage.

Reflecting on the best thing that has come from going sober, she said: 'I would say being able to start loving myself and getting to know myself, has been the best thing because I feel like I've really been able to kind of start stepping into the woman that I truly want to be.

'It's been a really transformative process. Kind of like I almost had to burn down the old me. To start again and then figure out, okay, who am I? What do I like? Who am I without alcohol? And that felt really scary at the beginning.'

The mother-of-two continued: 'Okay, maybe I'm not actually this confident extrovert. Actually, I'm a really sensitive introvert who's got ADHD, gets really over stimulated really easily, who actually likes small gatherings, early nights, being with her dog, being silly with her kids, but actually not being the wild party girl.

'Truly getting to know myself and the most important relationship we have in our lives is the one we have with ourselves. And when I was drinking, I did not like myself one bit. I was carrying all that shame. I hated myself.'

Millie has spoken candidly about her unhealthy issues with binge drinking, which started at a young age, documenting her journey to sobriety in her book, Bad Drunk, after quitting alcohol in the summer of 2022.

She candidly detailed how her journey to self-love was ongoing, but that the 'biggest gift' had been learning to enjoy being alone.

'It's still something I'm working on now,' she said. 'Like it's not perfect, but truly getting to know myself, being comfortable with myself, enjoying my own company, enjoying being alone. 

'Actually getting to a point where being alone with my thoughts isn't torture. I think that's the biggest gift.'

And despite the recent crumbling of her marriage, the reality star insisted she was looking forward to the future and becoming 'this magnetic person that attracts their desires'.

 She explained: 'When you start choosing yourself, it's a powerful shift. You start attracting exactly different things because you're valuing yourself much higher and you're choosing yourself. I think the respect is so important as well. 

'And suddenly you can just be really this like magnetic person that attracts their desires. And I'm really excited now for the future.'

Millie and Hugo, who share daughters Sienna, five, and Aurelia, four, announced their separation on February 2, seven years after exchanging vows.

Sources close to the pair say they remain committed to co-parenting their young children, who continue to be their priority, and to maintaining a loving family life.

The couple, who met as teenagers and first dated during E4's Made In Chelsea, had been married since June 2018.

A source told the Daily Mail: 'Millie and Hugo are currently going through a separation and have sadly decided to split.

'They have known each other for many years, and in recent weeks, have had serious conversations about their future, ultimately deciding it's better for them both to part ways.

'Their main priority remains their children and family life, and separating is not something they ever hoped would happen.

'At present, they are considering what living apart might look like and how they plan to navigate co-parenting their young children.

'It's been an incredibly difficult start to the year, and one they hope to continue managing in private.'

Millie travelled to India  last month to attend a wellness retreat designed to 'heal' the nervous system while Hugo was on a skiing holiday.

During her stay, the reality star, who was pictured without her wedding ring, shared several posts alluding to a new chapter in her life.

She also posted a quote that read: 'You don't always have to know what comes next in your journey.

'Sometimes you just need to be where you are and know that it's okay to be there. There is so much beauty in accepting yourself, right here, in this moment.

'No matter what you are working towards, I hope you can always remember that finding peace in the present moment is just as important as the path ahead.'

In another Instagram story, she shared the quote: 'And then the moon said to me, dear girl, it's time to own your f***ing power.'

Influencer Millie first met Hugo as a teenager, and they began dating when she was 21, rising to fame together on the E4 reality series.

But after six months of dating, their relationship hit a wall when she accused him of cheating with her best friend and co-star, Rosie Fortescue, and they split in 2011.

At the time, Millie claimed she would always love Hugo, saying in an interview: 'I loved him - those feelings don't disappear – but I just always have to remind myself why we're not together.' 

'I do think that, for the rest of my life, every time I see him, I'll get that feeling in my stomach. I don't think I could ever not get that butterfly feeling.' 

The Quality Street heiress then had a very high-profile relationship with rapper Professor Green, also known as Stephen Manderson, 42, tying the knot in 2013.

However, the couple went on to announce their separation after 30 months of marriage in February 2016, with Millie and Hugo rekindling their romance later that year.

The pair tied the knot two years later and welcomed their first daughter, Sienna, in 2020, followed by Aurelia in 2021.