George knew end was near
Medic tells of ‘weird’ chat before he died
SINGER George Michael displayed classic signs of a man getting his affairs in order because he knew his days were numbered, a medic reveals today.
And though the superstar realised his health was fading badly he still managed to share a joke about him looking like bloated Elvis Presley in his final days.
Simeon Niel-asher reveals how he treated George at his North London home just three weeks before he was found dead.
In an extraordinary interview, the physician and close pal said he believed the singer had accepted his mortality.
World-renowned osteopath Simeon, who treated George for 30 years, said: “When I last saw him he was in good spirits. It was a beautiful last session.
“We had a really weird conversation, it was interesting and it was strange.
“Sometimes people know they are going to die and they get everything in order. I wonder if there was a bit of that going on, like he somehow knew.
“It was strange to think he might have known he was going to die or had some kind of inkling. That happens. Some people know they are going to die and I’ve seen it before.
“In many ways I thought he was waking up and I saw him coming alive again, maybe the last flash of the candle.”
Despite the intense session, Simeon says they laughed and George didn’t mind being teased about his ballooning weight.
Referring to Elvis’s favourite snack, Simeon said: “He kind of reminded me a bit of Elvis before he died, you know? He got really big. I said to George, ‘Have you got any peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?’
“What can I say? He was big but he was beautiful. In the last few months I saw this rebirth, this kind of optimism come back, this sparkle in his eye.”
George, 53, planned a follow-up appointment with Simeon but died as the physician, now based in Israel, was preparing to fly back to London.
THERAPEUTIC
Simeon added: “I was waiting for a call to see him again. So his death hit me hard, I only found out on the news.
“We became good friends and it was a tremendous therapeutic relationship.”
Initial toxicology tests on George were inconclusive. It has since emerged he died in bed at his Oxfordshire retreat of natural causes, with a fatty liver and heart disease.
He was found on Christmas Day by boyfriend Fadi Fawaz, 43.
Simeon – who treats a number of other celebrities – said George had come to rely on his techniques over the years. The medic is an expert in treating frozen shoulder syndrome – the debilitating soreness and stiffness of the joint. He met George in the 1980s after being introduced by mutual pal Martin Kemp, 55, of Spandeau Ballet fame. Simeon set up the Back Into Shape clinic just yards from George’s home in Highgate.
He went on: “We hit it off from the first treatment. I started working with him when I was 27. He was a massive superstar and I was a lowly osteopath.
“It reminds me of The King’s Speech when this man came in and he turned out to be the King of England.
“I was very close to him and loved the man very much.”
George was so impressed by Simeon that in a testimonial for the medic’s website he said: “I am delighted to recommend Simeon’s work, he is the best of the best.”
MASK
Simeon went on tour with George between 2006 and 2008, travelling to Europe, the US and Australia. The medic is listed as part of the tour’s management and production.
He also spent time with the star in his studio and added: “He was working all the time, I saw him in the studio scrapping all these songs that were so good, he was a perfectionist.” Simeon revealed how over the years George feared his private life would affect his public image. He continued: “There are two George Michaels, you understand. There is George the superstar and there’s George the person.
“He talked about George Michael in the third person, because he realised there was something bigger that he had to become, this mask. He was quite frightening as George Michael because he was very demanding, not like a diva, he absolutely knew what he wanted, absolutely.
“And if it wasn’t exactly as he wanted he got angry. That was really the only time you saw him angry. He was always worried about how George the man would influence George the superstar.”
Since his death, George’s family friend Andros Georgiou has repeatedly spoken about the state of his health and insisted “hard drugs” had been back in his life.
But Simeon said of the claims: “That was all wrong. He was struggling with addictions but it seemed he had come through most of it.
“It’s a very complex and sad story, and it needs to be told properly.”
Earlier this month, the love of George’s life said the singer’s body “just gave up”.
American Kenny Goss, 58, told the Sunday Mirror: “I can’t say for sure but I think his body just gave up. All these years, it was just weak.”
A private family funeral is being organised by George’s sister Melanie. The singer is set to be buried beside beloved mum Lesley at Highgate Cemetery. The star always made annual trips to the cemetery after he bought the plot for his mum when she died aged 60 from cancer in 1997.
It is believed George’s dad Kyriacos, 75, a Greek-cypriot, has asked for a small private ceremony in Greek Orthodox style for immediate family and close friends. halina.watts@ trinitymirror.
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We had this really weird chat... some people know that they are going to die SIMEON NIEL-ASHER ON LAST MEETING WITH STAR
I witnesed him coming alive again, maybe the last flash of the candle
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