I found my George dead in his bed
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GEORGE Michael’s lover spoke last night of his shock after finding the singer dead in bed on Christmas Day.
Fadi Fawaz, who had been seeing George since 2009, revealed he had stayed at the superstar’s mansion over the weekend. Fadi, a hair stylist, paid tribute to George, saying he would “never stop missing” the singer. Speaking to our
sister paper the Daily Mirror, Fadi said: “It’s a big shock obviously and it’s really upsetting.
“I stayed the whole weekend. I was there Friday night and then I found him Sunday. I found him dead in the morning. It was peaceful.”
Asked how he was coping, Fadi added: “I think I am OK but I will say no more.”
He later tweeted: “It’s a Christmas I will never forget … finding your partner dead peacefully in bed first thing in the morning … I will never stop missing you.”
Fadi, who was by George’s side when he nearly died of pneumonia in 2011, also confirmed that no funeral plans had been finalised for the star.
It emerged on Christmas night that George, 53, had died of heart failure at his £5million home in Goring, Oxfordshire. We can also reveal how George had been hosting all-night parties at his London home in the past few weeks.
The star enjoyed wild nights until 8am with friends at the £8million mansion in Highgate, despite his reported stay in rehab last year.
A source said: “George loved having friends over and was often still going strong well into the following morning. This continued right up until his death.
“He may have been in his 50s but it’s fair to say he gave much younger party-goers a run for their money and the atmosphere was always quite hedonistic.
“He was very much a recluse and didn’t go out much but instead people came to him. His house was where you ended up at the end of a long night to continue the party.”
Yesterday, the world of music and his millions of fans mourned the star, with some leaving flowers and tributes outside his two homes.
Thames Valley Police said they were treating his death as “unexplained, but not suspicious”.
His manager Michael Lippman said he received a call on Christmas morning notifying him that George had been found “in bed, lying peacefully”.
Lippman said the exact time of death was not clear at this time but there was “no foul play whatsoever” and his death was unexpected. Police arrived at the house shortly before 2pm.
His US publicist Cindi Berger added that the star, who sold more than 100million records, had not been ill recently.
In recent days George, whose real name was Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou and who was worth £105million, was in high spirits.
Close friend Shirlie Kemp said: “Words cannot express how sad we all are, only last week I saw him laughing and happy.”
George, who battled an addiction to drugs, including crack cocaine and marijuana, had become increasingly introverted, sometimes not leaving his house for days.
His public appearances in recent months have been few and far between. He was seen out for dinner in September at a restaurant near his Oxfordshire home where he shocked onlookers with his bloated appearance.
A neighbour in Goring said George was notably absent from the midnight Christmas Eve service at St Thomas of Canterbury church, the parish church opposite his home. He had attended in previous years.
Friends believe that he had made at least two suicide attempts over the years. In one bizarre incident in 2013, he needed to be airlifted to hospital with head injuries after throwing himself out of a Range Rover, driven by a friend at 70mph on the M1.
A pal also claimed he had in the past tried to kill himself by slashing his wrists.
George’s life spun out of control after his boyfriend Anselmo Feleppa died of Aids in 1993. Five years later, he sank into a deep depression after his beloved
mother Lesley died of cancer, aged 60. After years of hedonism and hard drugs, he nearly died from pneumonia in a Vienna hospital in 2011 and made a tearful appearance outside his home, saying it had been ”touch and go” whether he lived.
Despite fears over his lifestyle and health, George had been planning a comeback.
He was set to work on a new album – his first studio album since 2004’s Patience – with UK producer Naughty Boy.
He was also putting the “finishing touches” to a documentary Called Freedom: George Michael – a behind-thescenes look at the making of the album, featuring Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Liam Gallagher.
A world tour was said to be on the horizon. Australian promotor Paul Dainty said he was in negotiations for a tour Down Under in 2018.
He said yesterday: “It’s a total shock, I was in the process of setting stuff up with his manager.”