14 November 2023 , 16:30
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Pete Doherty was once the poster boy for indie music but also one of the industry's most notorious junkies, famed for his drug-fuelled public antics in the late nineties and noughties. The former Libertines and Babyshambles frontman, 44, is now almost unrecognisable as he distanced himself from the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, leading a mostly sober and quiet existence in Normandy - though decades of substance and alcohol abuse have taken their toll on his body.
In the BBC's new Louis Theroux Interviews series, the documentarian is invited into Pete's quaint residence in the small town of Etretat in rural France, where he lives with his wife and Puta Madres bandmate Katia de Vidas, and their six-month-old daughter, Billie-May. The Can't Stand Me Now hitmaker opens up about his colourful past and how it's had a detrimental effect on his health.
Pete abused drugs and alcohol up until late 2019 when a song inspired him to quit (Getty Images)
He was famed for his partying ways and drug-fuelled public antics in the '90s (Getty Images)In the documentary, Pete and Louis are filmed having a discussion when the musician proceeds to cough, clutch his chest and groan in pain. After worry and questions from Louis, Pete explains: "You are looking at a very sick man. I've battered it, haven't I, I've f***ing caned it. The heroin and the crack... I surrendered to that, and then it was cocaine and the smoking and the alcohol, and now it's cheese and the saucisson, and the sugar in the tea."
As reported by The Independent, Pete continues: "It's all gotta go. They told me a little while ago if you don't change your diet then you're gonna have diabetes and cholesterol problems. Death's lurking, you know what I mean? That's why I carry that stick." The star seems doubtful that he will live to see his baby girl grow up and start a family of her own, and tells Louis that he would love to hear her say her first words.
Pete also reveals he currently takes blockers that would prevent heroin from taking effect, and "still get tingles" thinking about taking drugs, but is able to talk about it "rather than running off and scoring". The singer has been mostly clean since late 2019, and credits musician Frederic Lo for lifting him out of the darkness that may have otherwise consumed him again. Pete covered one of his songs, called 'Inutile et hors d'usage' which means 'Useless and all used up', in early 2020 and really resonated with it.
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Now Pete says 'death's lurking' and he doesn't think he'll get to see his baby girl grow up (Getty Images)Last year, he told the Mirror: "I got really emotional when he played it to me, it really hit home. I was giving up hard drugs and feeling f***ed really. The best way to describe it for me is like being hit by a bus. It's still a bit of a struggle but the obsession does lift and it's getting easier. But at the time it hadn't quite lifted and it was really tough." Pete admitted that he feels amazed he's even alive, let alone still clean, after more than two years.
He also explained that his drug addiction almost cost him both his feet after he 'ran out of veins'. "I was really pushing the limits. There were a few close calls really. I nearly lost my feet and horrible things like that," he said. "It was very close, just because of the injecting. That's what happens when you run out of veins. It all seems so long ago now though but it was a hell of a ride."
Pete shot to fame when he dated supermodel Kate Moss in the mid-2000s and had a 'secret' relationship with musical genius Amy Winehouse, who died of alcohol poisoning at 27. But now the once-troubled star spends his days walking his two huskies around his new home in Normandy, reading the local paper and watching films with his other half.
- Louis Theroux Interviews Pete Doherty is on BBC iPlayer and BBC Two at 9pm tonight.