Music
Peter Andre interview
After the enormous success of Mysterious Girl and the nationwide frenzy of Insania, we meet up with the magnificent Peter Andre as he prepares to release his brand new single - The Right Way...
VM: Peter - singer songwriter extraordinaire, king of the jungle, and the buffest man in pop - it is an absolute pleasure to meet you!
Peter Andre: Mate, nice to meet you too.
VM: You'd been completely out of the public eye for about six years before I'm A Celebrity... brought you back into the limelight. What were you up to during those wilderness years?
Peter Andre: Well I got signed up when I was 16, so by the time I was 26 I'd released four albums - only two in the UK - over a 10 year period. So I'd been going every day, I was knackered and I just got to a point where I didn't know if I wanted it anymore. So I stepped away from it, went to Australia, helped out in the family business 'cos we owned a little beach resort back there. Those three months turned into three years, which was my stupid mistake. I basically had to take over the whole resort and redo it because mum and dad were sick and we sent them home and me and my brothers took over.
VM: So you were a business man, basically?
Peter Andre: Well yeah I had to do it 'cos it was our business and it wasn't fair that mum and dad had to run it. They kept saying to me "You've got to go back to England" and I was like "No, I think it's good to have a break, people are probably sick of me". It was my stupidity. But after those three years I moved to New York and I wrote with some great people and I thought "My god, I have got some alright material, I could do it!". So I spoke to my manager in England, and she said it's not the right time because of Pop Idols and all these different things that were out. So I went to Cyprus, opened up a little business and I thought I might just write for people, make a deal with the label, take it from there. Just at the time I was content and thought "I'm quite happy completely away from this industry", I got the call from I'm A Celebrity. And I had been called before for Celebrity Big Brother and Celebrity Boxing...
VM: And you turned them down straight away?
Peter Andre: I hate the phrase "turned them down" because it's as if you think you're too good for them. It wasn't that, I just thought "What the hell am I gonna do in the Big Brother house?!" I thought I would get crucified, and I had this horrible feeling in my gut that I would make a fool of myself.
VM: I think it was a good choice - everybody gets crucified on that show, don't they.
Peter Andre: I just didn't want to do it. I said "please keep me in mind for other things" - and then I'm A Celebrity... came up.
VM: So I'm A Celebrity... was really a life-changing event for you?
Peter Andre: Definitely, life changing in many ways. Career-wise - definitely, relationship-wise - definitely, and I conquered my fears. You go to therapy for years to overcome some of your fears y'know. And in two weeks, two of my three fears completely went.
VM: What were they?
Peter Andre: Snakes and heights.
VM: What about spiders?
Peter Andre: Spiders, I reckon about 70% of the fear has gone.
VM: Are you still trying to get over that?
Peter Andre: Yeah but I can bear them now - I won't touch them, or talk to them.
VM: They give me the willies.
Peter Andre: I came face to face with them twice, and I thought "Well, if I can do that...". They did bite me in the glass tube, and I did have to take antihistamines for two weeks - which no one knew about - I came out in a massive rash all over my back when I got bitten on my neck. But I faced my fears - that's huge.
