PETE ON PARENTING
‘Emily & I are bringing up the kids to be healthy’
He rose to fame in the ’90s H with his iconic hit song Mysterious Girl – his chiselled abs and six-pack delighting fans around the world. But Peter Andre reveals that during this time, starting in his early teens and then throughout his early twenties, he was plagued with worry about keeping his body in tip-top shape, constantly obsessing about his diet and getting enough exercise.
SURGERY
The father- of-four admits, “In those days, I was really strict with my food. I was very careful about what I ate and I trained loads. I had very little body fat. It got obsessive – I wanted my body to look perfect and worked really hard to maintain it. I wasn’t happy, but I thought, ‘I look OK so it’s all good.’ If there had been social media back then, I reckon I’d have been the king of Instagram with that body!”
Pete, 45, has been open about his battle to accept his looks, admitting he had a nose job aged 24 because he felt so low about his appearance. In 2016 he said, “I had a strange old nose and I absolutely hated it. I was really under- confident about it.
“I hated my nose and my face. I had curtains at the time and, when I look back, they were literally like curtains covering my face because I didn’t like how I looked.”
But now his focus has shifted to being healthy and happy, and not stressing so much about his looks.
Pete says, “My weight has been up and down. In my thirties, because I’d been restricting my food, I rebelled a little bit and then gained weight. But my forties have seen me find the perfect balance and I now prioritise health, rather than looking good.”
And the singer is still in great shape. In 2017, after his son Junior, 13, challenged him to regain his muscular physique, he began training harder and eating more healthily, and he now looks and feels better than ever.
Pete – who recently took part in ITV show The Junk Food Experiment – adds that being married to doctor Emily Macdonagh, 29, means he’s more inclined to live a healthier lifestyle.
He says, “Em, being a doctor, knows about the importance of good nutrition and exercise. We eat healthy, home-cooked food and like to be active as a family. But she doesn’t care what I look like. She’d like me whatever my weight – whether I’m bigger or in good shape. When you’re in love, appearance doesn’t matter.”
FAMILY FIRST
Pete reveals that he’s keen to set an example to his children – Junior and Princess, 11, from his first marriage, and Amelia, five, and two-year-old Theo, with Emily.
He explains, “With kids these days, it would be so easy to just give them electronics and have them sit there. But we don’t want to bring up ours like that. I want to have them out and about, and for me to be fit enough to be out there playing with them – I want to be healthy for them.
“We make sure they know how important it is to be healthy, too. We’ve made subtle swaps recently, like reducing their sugar
intake by giving them water and milk instead of sugary juice.” Pete is still just as passionate about his music as he was 20 years ago, and is going on a UK tour this year, with plans to add European and Australian dates. But with Emily working full-time and Pete being away on tour, the couple have realised it may be tricky for the family, and have made allowances with a five-year plan.
A GREAT TEAM
He says, “I can’t wait for my UK tour this year. I’ll be around the UK the first half of the year and then hopefully in Europe and Australia for the second half of the year. I love touring, though it’s hard being away from the family. But I’m going to be working as hard as I possibly can for our kids’ futures over the next five years, until I’m 50, and Emily knows that. We’re a great team.”
‘I worked hard to look perfect but I wasn’t happy’