Blake Fielder-Civil has reflected on his past relationship with Amy Winehouse on what would have been her 40th birthday.
The 41-year-old first met the singer in a pub back in 2005, and the two remained in an on-and-off relationship for six years. They married in 2007 and divorced two years later – shortly after which, the singer died of alcohol poisoning aged 27.
Now, to mark what would have been Winehouse’s 40th birthday today (September 14), Fielder-Civil appeared on ITV daytime show Good Morning Britain to open up about their tumultuous relationship and face questions about how his previous struggle with addiction played a role in the lead up to the musician’s death.
Describing himself as a “20-year-old drug addict” at the time he was in the relationship, he was also asked what he would change if he was allowed the chance to do things over again.
“Almost everything,” he began. “Before me and Amy did that together [taking heroin], I had tried it a few times, so I recognise in myself now – and this is part of being kinder to myself – I didn’t know what I was doing.”
'I was a 20-something-year-old drug addict and I had no idea how to make myself clean, let alone somebody else'
On what would have been Amy Winehouse’s 40th birthday, her ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil admits that he made mistakes pic.twitter.com/HkMQ7xievB
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) September 14, 2023
‘I wasn’t going into that with an intention of this happening. I don’t think anyone that loved Amy, her family or her friends, would ever think that this is what I would have wanted,” he continued. “Equally I think that they would’ve said Amy wouldn’t have wanted me to have taken the burden for the last 10-plus years.”
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Elsewhere in the interview which was broadcast live this morning, Fielder-Civil stated that although their struggle with addiction played a significant role in her death, other factors impacted her well-being – namely being in the public eye at a young age.
“I originally wanted to say happy birthday to Amy. It’s devastating she’s not here. I think about her a lot,” he told hosts Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard. “We had our issues, I think if it wouldn’t have been for certain factors it would’ve been a completely different relationship, a different outcome.”
He continued: “Aside from the obvious ones which everyone knew about – the addiction – fame in itself at a young age is hard to deal with and also I think everything happened quite quickly for Amy and I at the time.
“We were really young… this is over nearly half my life ago. And factors that a lot of people have when they’re young – mistakes, not knowing what your limits are, normal things people learn as they get older – perhaps we weren’t afforded the same allowances.”
Back in 2021, Amy Winehouse’s mum defended the late singer’s ex-husband amid the release of a BBC documentary, saying “love was at the heart” of their marriage.
Additionally, back in January it was reported that Jack O’Connell was cast as Fielder-Civil in the upcoming biopic about the singer’s life. Titled Back To Black, the project is directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson and stars Industry‘s Marisa Abela as the late star.
More recently, however, looking to honour the artist’s 40th birthday, Amy Winehouse’s band announced details of a special London show, set to take place in Camden this December and celebrate her life, music and legacy she left behind.