The Dukes of Hazzard star is a mom of three.

Jessica Simpson paused for a moment of introspection while revisiting a chapter from her past on Instagram.

The singer and actress, famed for classics like “Take My Breath Away” and her part in “The Dukes of Hazzard,” uploaded a flashback photo of herself that she characterized as ‘unrecognizable’ from six years prior, signaling a moment in her life marked by emotional strife.

The image, which appeared on her social media for the first time in 2021, was accompanied by a message that encapsulated her drive and self-realization at the moment. “6 years ago,” Jessica said, referring to the date the shot was taken.

Jessica decided to go on a sobriety path in 2017, a transformative moment she candidly chronicles in her memoir, “Open Book.”

Jessica is sat in a pink tracksuit in a poorly lit room in the photos in question, a dramatic contrast to her generally flamboyant public presence.

“This person in the early morning of November 1, 2017 is an unrecognizable version of myself,” she captioned the image at the time.

Jessica dug into the self-discovery that was ahead of her in her caption, realizing the need to recapture her ‘light’ and win over the internal battle that damaged her self-esteem.

The process was about addressing and embracing the anguish, not just refraining from alcohol.

“I wanted to feel the pain so I could carry it like a badge of honor,” she said. Her ambition was to grow as a leader, to break the patterns that held her back, and to live free of regret and guilt.

Jessica focuses on the weight of labels like ‘alcoholic’ and the genuine nature of her struggle four years into her clean existence.”

It wasn’t the drinking that was the problem. “I was,” she says, recognizing her previous reluctance to love and appreciate herself. She now stands in her truth, facing her fears, accepting her life’s sorrows, and embracing her personal power with “soulful courage.”

Her memoir describes the gravity of her previous lifestyle, saying that “I was killing myself with all the drinking and pills.” In comparison to the rigors of therapy, where she confronted the traumas she had suffered, Jessica found it simpler to give up alcohol, a drink that supported her complacency.

This moment of openness follows recent news in which Jessica denied using the weight reduction medicine Ozempic, attributing her astonishing 100-pound weight loss to sheer willpower and the substantial lifestyle shift of quitting alcohol.

In an interview with Bustle in July, she emphasized that her metamorphosis was not the consequence of drugs, but rather of her own resolve, underlining the influence that stopping alcohol had on her physical well-being.

Jessica’s body image journey has been as public as it has been personal, ranging a size 0 to a size 12—experienced throughout her pregnancy. She considers herself fortunate to have lived such a diverse spectrum, which has given her a special empathy for her apparel brand’s clientele and contributed to her own self-awareness.

Jessica is resilient, despite the stinging barbs of public commentary on her appearance, however she is not immune to the agony such words can inflict. She told an interviewer that, while negativity might be terrible, she is now too anchored in herself to be swayed by it.

Jessica highlighted her confusion at the ongoing public debate about her weight in an August interview with Access Hollywood, calling it an unneeded topic of talk.

She has previously spoken about the pressure to maintain the ‘gold standard’ for her figure, an ideal inspired by her legendary part in “The Dukes of Hazzard,” as well as the difficult dynamics of yo-yo dieting and over-exercising.

Jessica now embraces her body’s journey, particularly the incredible metamorphosis she underwent following her pregnancy with her youngest daughter, Birdie Mae, when she reached 260 pounds.

Jessica, together with her husband, Eric, and their three children—Maxwell, Ace, and Birdie—continues to navigate her diverse existence with a greater appreciation for her emotional and physical strength.