Patricia Heaton’s Sobriety Journey: How a Shocking Moment with Her Sons Led to a Life Change

Ray Romano‘s TV wife Patricia Heaton hid a shocking secret from the world — sources say the actress was a serious booze guzzler for years until an embarrassing incident in front of her sons drove her to quit cold turkey in 2018!

Before that, the 67-year-old says she was able to keep her drinking under control while shooting Everybody Loves Raymond from 1996 to 2005.

But after the show ended, the mom of Samuel, 31, John, 29, Joseph, 27, and Daniel, 26 — with second and current hubby, actor and producer David Hunt, 71 — says she began looking forward to having that first drink at 5 p.m.

Ray’s beloved TV wife says she’d go out with friends to dinner, down two or three cocktails before the meal, at least two glasses of wine with dinner, and polish it off with a digestif afterward.

But a shocking 2018 wake-up call drove her to quit cold turkey while visiting her boys in Nashville.

“It was Thanksgiving, and we drank while we were making dinner. We drank while we were eating, and we drank while we cleaned up,” she recalls. “There were 10 of us — including three of my sons. I kept filling my wine glass with red wine … there came a point when I started to say something and found I couldn’t get the words out.

“One of my sons said, ‘Oh great, Mom, you can’t even talk.’ And I was so humiliated … I thought, ‘that’s it for me!'”

The devout Catholic also relied on religion when quitting.

Dishes a source: “She says the Bible has so many examples of the right way to lead your life — it’s been her road map to sobriety!”