In an interview with a UK magazine, Vanessa, 24, revealed that her problems with drink started three years ago and that it got so out of control her work started to suffer.
She said: “My life started to spin out of control in 2010 and it was a dreadful year. I’d be out every night.
“I drank vodka mainly but, to be honest, I drank anything. It massively affected the band and I felt lonely and depressed.”
Vanessa admitted that it got so bad that she’d show up to work late and had to get band mate Una Foden to cover her solos.
It was only when she stayed with Rochelle Humes for two weeks at the end of 2011 that she realised she needed to kick the booze.
She has previously said that it’s thanks to Una, Rochelle and the rest of The Staurdays – Mollie King and Frankie Sandford – that she didn’t go off the rails.
Vanessa said: “We’re all very honest with each other and we will sit each other down and say, ‘This is getting out of control.’
“If I hadn’t had them, it would have been so easy to go off of the rails and kept up the partying until it became a problem. You need people around you to say, ‘Right, this is too much now’, and fortunately, I have that.”
Vanessa found happiness in 2012 with boyfriend Gary Salter and said she started to swap the nights out for working out and eating healthily.
She said: “I have a trainer who gets me running, doing squats and lifting weights, and sometimes, I feel like I can’t breathe, it’s so hard.
“Afterwards, though, I feel amazing and it’s great when you start seeing the results. I’m never going to have a small bum but it’s toned now and that makes me happy.”