Lucy Hale celebrates a year of sobriety: 'You are not alone and you are loved'

Lucy Hale spent Valentine's Day celebrating a major milestone: a year of sobriety.

On Tuesday, the "Pretty Little Liars" and "Borrego" star posted a photo on Instagram of her "1 year!" sober cake and penned a motivational message for her 24.5 million followers.

"Bear with me, this is an alternative Valentine’s Day post," Hale captioned the image.

"This is a post about self-love and about the greatest thing I’ve ever done. On January 2, 2023 I celebrated one year of sobriety. While this journey has mostly been private, I felt compelled tonight to let anyone who is struggling know that you are not alone and you are loved."

In the comments section of the post, a number of Hale's industry peers offered their support and congratulated her on the achievement. Among the celebrities who commented on the picture were "Pretty Little Liars" alumni Troian Bellisario, Tyler Blackburn, Sasha Pieterse, Janel Parrish and Shay Mitchell, as well as Hale's "Riverdale" co-star Lili Reinhart.

"Congratulations to you Lucy," Bellisario wrote. "This is brave. And cool. And inspirational. And you deserve all the self love and love from others that goes with it."

"So much love and respect for you," Blackburn wrote.

"You’re incredible," Parrish wrote.

Singer and actor Demi Lovato, who has also been vocal about her journey with addiction and sobriety, commented, "I’m so proud of you sis ... I love you so much ... Thank you for being a part of my journey and allowing me to be a part of yours."

Other Hollywood figures who have opened up about their sobriety journeys in recent years include Chrissy Teigen, Bradley Cooper, Tom Felton and Anthony Hopkins, who marked 45 years of sobriety in 2020.

Hale's sober celebration comes less than a month after she was cast alongside Raúl Esparza and Krys Marshall in the new FX pilot "The Answers." According to Deadline, the pilot stars Hale as a heartbroken young woman who joins an experiment that claims to discover the key to finding love.

"really beyond thrilled to be working with this dream team and fabulous cast," Hale wrote on Instagram last month.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.