Amy Winehouse’s ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil says he would do ‘everything differently’ in their relationship as he marks the late singer’s 40th birthday
Amy Winehouse’s troubled ex-husband has said he would do ‘almost everything differently’ in their relationship as he marked what would have been the singer’s 40th birthday.
Blake Fielder-Civil, who was married to Amy between 2007 and 2009, has admitted introducing her to heroin and is seen by many of her fans as partly responsible for her death from alcohol poisoning aged just 27.
The 41-year-old was the inspiration for her heartbreaking hit single Back to Black, and went to jail for eight months in 2008 after admitting perverting the course of justice and GBH.
Blake, who rarely gives interviews, was asked by Good Morning Britain hosts Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard what he would have done differently. He replied: ‘Almost everything’.
He continued: ‘Its sad but I wanted to say happy birthday to Amy. It’s devastating she’s not here. I think about her all the time, I thought about her this morning when I said my happy birthday to her, she was my best friend.
‘If it wasn’t for certain factors I think it could have been a different outcome. Everything happened very quickly for Amy. We were young.’
Heartbroken: Amy Winehouse ‘s ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil has spoke about how he would do ‘everything differently’ in their relationship if he could turn back the clock
Devastating: Blake, who was married to Amy between 2007 and 2009, appeared on Good Morning Britain on what would have been the late singer’s 40th birthday
Blake has long been blamed by Amy’s fans for her descend into drug and alcohol addiction. But today he insisted that some of her close friends and family also had questions to answer.
He said: ‘That’s one of the reasons I wanted to speak today. I do [get blamed] and that’s ok. I can’t change what other people feel about that, but for me personally, I needed to stop carrying that burden. I’ve carried it for over 10 years.
‘I’m the only person within that story that’s ever held any accountability, I tried to say I made some huge mistakes. I was a 20 something old drug addict.
‘I had no idea how to make myself clean, let alone someone else. There were vested interests in Amy carrying on performing too. The fragility is what people connected with in the albums.’
Susanna asked: ‘I wonder whether there is some kind of relationship that you can reestablish with Amy’s family? Or whether they have any interest, or whether that’s too sensitive for them?’
Blake replied: ‘I’m not sure about their interests per se, but for me personally, that’s something I go over in my head a lot.
‘But you are right, the more I’ve the more I’ve kind of come away from that and been able to put what I call ‘clean time’ under my belt, and as the months turn into years and you start kind of rebuilding yourself.
‘There have been times where I thought ‘Would there be value in me speaking to her family?’ And maybe making some sort of reconciliation? Because we all loved that person.’
‘Have you tried? Have you been told not to?’ Susanna asked.
Blake replied: ‘I haven’t to be honest. I’ve kind of ascertained from my own kind of thinking.’
When asked by hosts Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard what he would do differently, Blake replied: ‘Almost everything differently’
Speaking about the milestone birthday, Blake went on to say: ‘Its sad but I wanted to say happy birthday to Amy. It’s devastating she’s not here.’
Amy and Blake married in Miami in 2007 after an on-off relationship and were pictured months later after a furious bust-up where it emerged they had been taking heroin.
The following year, Blake was jailed for his part in an assault on a pub landlord which led to Amy’s famous Grammy Awards tribute to, ‘my Blake, incarcerated’.
Blake filed for divorce from the singer shortly after his release.
He had a son in May 2011, two months after Amy’s death, while his daughter Lola was born in April 2013.
Amy soared to fame upon the release of Frank in 2003, gaining both critical and commercial success with the debut as her jazz-inspired vocals won fans all over before her second album Back To Black’s introduction three years later.
But the London-born icon’s dazzling career was blighted by her addiction to drink and drugs.
In 2011, an inquest gave a verdict of misadventure after finding that she had 416mg of alcohol per decilitre in her blood.
Blake said: ‘That’s one of the reasons I wanted to speak today. I do [get blamed] and that’s ok. I can’t change what other people feel about that, but for me personally, I needed to stop carrying that burden. I’ve carried it for over 10 years’ (pictured together in 2007)
Family: Blake feels he’s blamed for Amy’s sad death – and feels he’s the only member of her close friends and family who have taken accountability for what happened (Amy pictured with her parents Mitch and Janis in 2008 at the Novello Awards)
A second inquest in 2013 confirmed that she died of accidental alcohol poisoning.
This is more than five times the legal drink-drive limit and enough to cause her to become comatose and depress her respiratory system.
In a June 2013 interview, her brother Alex said he believed her eating disorder, and the consequent physical weakness, was the primary cause of her death.
He said: ‘She suffered from bulimia very badly. That’s not, like, a revelation – you knew just by looking at her…
‘She would have died eventually, the way she was going, but what really killed her was the bulimia… I think that it left her weaker and more susceptible. Had she not had an eating disorder, she would have been physically stronger.’
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