Sarah Harding and fiancé Tom Crane broke up last September

Sarah Harding has admitted that she had a 4-year addiction to powerful sleeping pills.

The Girls Aloud star went to rehab in South Africa in October not only for her alcohol dependency but also because she was hooked on Zopiclone tablets.

'Coming off them was horrible,' says Sarah, 30.

'It took 3 weeks in rehab to start sleeping normally again.'

Sarah - who says her drinking spiralled out of control after her split from fiancé Tom Crane - reveals that she spent the first 3 days in the clinic in detox, where she was put on valium.

'They literally comatose you in case you have a fit,' she tells The Sun.

'Because if you come off alcohol too quickly you have fits. I didn't even know that.

'I wasn't drinking as heavily as some people in there, so luckily I got out after 3 days to continue my treatment.

'Everything was OK with my body, my liver was OK. I had all of that checked.'

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