Woodruff used to sleep with up to six men a week according to The Sun, adding that at the time she “lost count of the men I’ve slept with, but it must be between 100 and 200.”
“I could never get enough. And it was only when I realised how that might affect my son Henry that I got help,” she said.
Woodruff has since written a book, Diary Of A Sex Addict. She described how she began her obsession dangerously young, losing her virginity at 12 and had her first proper boyfriend a year later.
“I was underage so it was wrong — but I just knew I was highly sexual from very early on. I fancied both boys and girls (something quite a lot of sex addicts have in common) and couldn’t wait to start dating.”
She described how she would go to a sex club after a night out and that her ex once took her to a big sex party in Liverpool where he watched her have sex with six men at once.
“I was sleeping with several men a week even when I didn't feel like it. I felt powerless to control my desires — and would turn to sex to soothe me all the time. I guess I wanted the thrill of the connection,” she told the Sun.
Woodruff would meet men for sex who sent her compliments on Instagram, and she confessed that she did not even need dating apps to find a partner, because they came to her. She also noted that she has had six serious relationships but they have not lasted long because her partners could not handle her promiscuity. Ultimately, her addiction became the reason why she and Ian, her son Henry's dad, split up.
Woodruff only realised that she needed to get help when, rather than prioritising her son, she was too busy obsessing over sex and sleeping with controlling men. She even got stalked twice by men who “got the wrong impression” and at that point decided to get help. She went on the Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (SLAA) site and took a self-diagnosis quiz, then signed up to their 12-step programme the same day and started attending meetings with other addicts.
Woodruff said that, in addition to having kept a diary throughout her struggle, it was through meeting other sex addicts that she came upon the idea for her novel. Many of the women she met had had similar problems to her on their path to addiction, including dysfunctional families and abusive relationships. They all felt a 'burning shame' when they wanted to turn to sex, Woodruff added.
She said it was a relief to meet women who felt similarly judged.
Woodruff has now been celibate for over four months – the longest in her life – as before attending meetings the longest she had ever gone without sex was just two weeks.
“Before I started dealing with my addiction I couldn’t say no to sex. I just craved that sense of approval. But I’m not in that place of desperation any more. Now I meditate and I’m not always on my phone looking to hook up… Henry is my focus now,” she said, adding that accepted herself and there is no need to feel ashamed anymore.
