Exclusive Interview with Peter Andre

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Peter Andre announces his UK tour celebrating 25 years. The popstar, songwriter and TV personality will celebrate 25 years across 25 venues – and one of them is right here in Plymouth! It has been 29 years since Peter Andre first burst onto the Australian music scene. Now the internationally acclaimed, global music star is back and is bringing a 25-date music tour here in the UK.

The tour will see Peter encompass his musical journey through the years, performing his best loved hits from his early years to his most recent tracks. The singer/songwriter will be here in Plymouth on 21st February to perform at Plymouth Pavillions – so make sure to save the date in your diary so you don’t miss out!

Congratulations on 25 years mate, that’s incredible! You don’t look any different, you look exactly the same!

“Aw, you’re a good man. See the thing is that it’s been about 29 years since I got signed – I can’t believe that – but it’s been 25 years since I did my first tour and that one was with Madonna, I was the opening act for Madonna. On the Aussie Tour, I was on her Girlie Tour and that was incredible because that was her stadium shows, so it was a great way to start really.”

So that was your first ever tour then, with Madonna?

“Yes – well actually my first ever tour before that was with Bobbie Brown, but in the same year it was with Madonna at The Melbourne Cricket Ground, so it was just like wow. So we’re celebrating 25 years of being on stage.”

So back then, how did you get into the music business?

“So I used to enter competitions from when I was 13 years old. My first time was with my brother Chris and I would literally enter competitions – wouldn’t win any of them – and I thought, well, okay maybe I’m picking the wrong songs. Sometimes I wouldn’t even get as far as singing the song, they would just hear the title and say ‘NEXT’. So anyway, one year in 1989, there was a competition called ‘New Faces’ which was a national competition and it was a bit like Britain’s Got Talent. And everyone was telling me you should audition for it and I was like why? I haven’t won one local competition, how am I going to win a national one and be humiliated in front of the whole country? And people were like you should because you’re not getting through because they’re not even letting you sing! So I went on New Faces and got offered a recording deal live on air!”

So 29 years later, now an internationally acclaimed, global media star, 24-date tour; how excited are you for that?

“Well now it’s actually 25 dates and it’s celebrating 25 years. We were actually going to do 25 songs but we thought no, we don’t want to bore people to death! But it has generally got a 25 theme. In that time – it’s quite unbelievable because I’ve written hundreds of songs and in the UK and out of them we’ve had ten, top five singles; and three number ones; and a lot of people don’t remember them except for Mysterious girl, but these were hits. Sometimes when we’re onstage people will be like ‘Oh I didn’t know he sang that?’, and I hear people say it all the time like ‘I didn’t realise that was your song.’ So it’s great in a way, you know?”

Yes definitely! So is there a particular style of genre that you’ve chosen for this, or is it a bit of a mix and match?

“Well it is a bit of a mix match. The one thing is, what I don’t want is people to come to the show and think it’s going to be an hour and a half of pop music, an hour and a half of swing music, an hour and a half of any type of music. It’s basically going to be like a night out, and I even want to sort of narrate it and talk about the different stages and what happened at that time. The thing that makes it more of an entertainment night rather than a theme of ‘you’ve got to know every single song that I’ve done’ is that it’s not a concept. Where like, for example, Madonna: who has 20 worldwide number one hits where everyone know every word to every song – that’s a different story. This is more of a night of entertainment.”

So when does it all kick off?

“On the 11th of Feb, two weeks before I’m 46! Can you believe it?”

46, but you look like you’re 33! And I am jealous because you look younger than me. So when is your Plymouth date?

“Aw you’re a good man and I bet you any money that you look young! I think I’m down in Plymouth on the 21st. The thing about Plymouth, nine years ago is where I met Emily! It was at that Pavilions.”

Oh wow really? Because Emily used to work at Taunton, didn’t she?

“She did and her father operated on my kidney. So what happened was he operated on me, I gave him tickets to a show and they said that they could come to Plymouth. They came to Plymouth, I met Emily and I met some of the family, we were all friends and didn’t think anything at the time; then about two years later, obviously we’re friends and always seeing each other and the whole family, I just let the penny drop. I knew she was the one and obviously I was hoping she felt the same! But yeah because we were all friends: her family were friends with my family and there was no talk or no thought of us being together!”

So her father worked on your kidney and you met Emily that way?

“Yes and it proves two things: one, that there’s no love without pain, and the other is that I always said to her dad if you knew then what you knew now then the operation would have been completely different.”

Haha – so when you’re not performing, or not in the media, what do you like to do?

“I am an avid cook. I love cooking. It’s definitely one of my hobbies! I love watching TV, haha. You know, cooking – for me – is therapeutic. Some people dread the thought of cooking, but I just think I can’t wait!”

Now I did see you on Michael McIntyre’s Midnight Game show – did you really not know that Michael was coming into your room whilst you were sleeping?

“Oh yes, he got me good! Here’s the thing right, what happens is that obviously they’ve got to make everyone else aware so that no one freaks out; and they’ve planned how they’re going to get in, how you turn the alarms off, all that sort of stuff. So that was one thing, but the other thing is that, someone said to me: “How did you not go crazy?” when someone’s in your house and I just said it’s quite simple. If you wake up to your wife screaming, you’re going to react accordingly, but if you wake up and your wife’s laughing her head off, then you know something funny has happened.

“I knew something funny had happened because she was laughing her head off – what a monkey she is. So of course, she waited until I was asleep and I was snoring. She actually said to them: “Oh, he snores.” So they were waiting up the road until I was snoring. So yeah, she got me good. I could say Michael McIntyre got me good but it was Emily that got me good.”

Aw that’s lovely. I read somewhere that you’re going into a Greece Touring Production? Is that correct?

“I sure am. I needed a role in a theatre show that wasn’t the commitment of everyday; and obviously Grease, of course I would go for Danny Zuko. I love Danny Zuko and I was offered Danny Zuko bout 6 years ago, and I couldn’t do it because we were filming the reality show. This time I didn’t want to go with Danny Zuko for the simple fact that it was – I think – a six month commitment, eight shows a week and I couldn’t do that.

“So I asked if there was a part I could do because I wanted to dabble a bit in theatre and he came up with a Teen Angel who was ‘beauty school dropout’, which I think is great. So I’m really looking forward to that and it literally means that I don’t have to do every show, I could do a week every four weeks, or two shows a week – they’re really flexible with me which is fantastic.”

Of course, you have a busy schedule. I’ve also read that you’ve landed your first Hollywood film role; ‘Undoing’, is that what it’s called?

“Yes, so I’ve done my first short film in America and at the moment I’m doing something called ‘The Inheritance’ in Los Angeles. So that’s being sent around to all the film festivals around the world, so we’re just waiting to see if we get a nomination which could be amazing, you never know! And also, I’ve got a small part in a feature film in the cinema in America. So I won’t say what it’s called or anything because they will want to announce that when they’re ready – but yeah, I’m moving in the right direction.”

So one last question: Pete you have a great family life now, will there ever be a chance that you’ll do another series of ‘My Life’?

“I will never say never, but I do think that time has come and gone. It was such a good time, we left on a high and we left when the viewing figures were huge. I remember thinking that I was mad for stopping it, but it was good to end on a high and sometimes it’s good to step away before things go wrong; and I took that lesson from the Osbournes.”

Interview by: Myles Lockwood

Written by: Sophie Squires

With thanks to: Peter Andre, Lizz Hobbs Group Ltd. & Plymouth Pavilions

Tickets: www.ticketmaster.co.uk

#Celebrating25Years