Peter Andre’s pain: ‘I’ve cried every day’
Christmas is a joyful season for most but for Peter Andre it’s also tinged with heartbreak…
Though Peter Andre will no doubt be throwing himself into the festive season for the sake of his young family, there will be a sadness behind his beaming smile.
The Australian singer, 44, who wears his heart on his sleeve at the best of times, will be marking a desperately sad milestone – the fifth anniversary of his brother’s death, a tragedy he has said ‘tore our family apart’.
The Mysterious Girl hitmaker lost big brother Andrew on 16 December 2012, to kidney cancer. Andrew, just 54 when he died, had been diagnosed in February.
Pete revealed, ‘I was horrified, so shocked... the tears were just rolling down my face, and I’ve cried every day since.’
As time goes by, Pete and his family have struggled to move on. The singer shocked fans last year during an appearance on This Morning, confessing that his family has not talked about their loss because it is ‘still so raw’.
Talking to best earlier this year, the singer confessed, ‘I don’t think we’ll ever get over it… we act like it hasn’t happened. I fell back into anxiety and all those things... but I went to therapy for the grieving, and it helped.’
And it’s not just talking about his feelings that helped Pete to deal with his loss.
‘ You talk about medication and a lot of people say, “Some pills are good and some pills are bad.” My point is, and this is just me… pills are good if you then deal with the problem.’
And no doubt his brother’s anniversary will make this Christmas particularly poignant for Pete.
‘My brother Mike said something to me that I’ll never forget,’ the star added. ‘He said, “You’ll never get over it, so just get on with it.” You do learn to live without, but the hole is always there.’
Wise words, and worth remembering as he prepares to spend the holidays with wife Emily, 28, and children Amelia, three, and Theo, one. Let’s hope that, surrounded by family ( he also has two older children – Junior, 12, and Princess, 10 – with his ex, Katie Price), Pete will find joy among the sadness this Christmastime.
‘I was told, “You’ll never get over it, so just get on with it.” You learn, but the hole is always there’