Saving Amy (14 page)

November is a busy month. Blake Fielder-Civil is released from prison, having agreed to go to rehab. Amy isn’t there
to meet her husband, having just got out of the London Clinic herself, where she was being treated for a suspected lung infection. We are already filming with the Winehouses and they are spending nights in my London hotel. We are sort of ‘living together’.

Initially filming is just with Mitch, who talks about his upbringing, his family, his marriages and, of course, Amy and Alex, some of which I have already written about. But it is also essential that I speak with the rest of the family, particularly Janis, Jane and Amy, herself, the three women in Mitch’s life. Without them a lot of the story will be lost.

I meet Jane, Mitch’s second wife, just before we start filming in November, when Mitch brings her to dinner. Jane was his secretary and they had been having an affair for a long time before Mitch made the decision to leave Janis, Amy and Alex to be with her.

What strikes me first is that Jane is a very pleasant woman; she is also good looking, intelligent and hard working. She is Mitch Winehouse’s wife now, but it becomes clear that when Mitch is there he wants to be in control. To make a point Jane almost has to announce that she’s about to say something: ‘
Hey! I need to speak right now! I want to be involved.’

I also noticed this very quickly when I was injured in an accident at the beginning of 2009 and Mitch and Jane were among the many guests who visited me at my vacation home. My heart immediately went out to Jane: the pair of them sat on my sofa but while Mitch talked constantly, Jane struggled to get involved in the
conversation. ‘I want to be a part of it,’ Jane said, when we discussed building a website to offer advice for families dealing with addiction and also creating a documentary that would try to deal with the subject of addictions.

Jane is supposed to be Mitch’s ‘First Lady’, but it is clear that is not happening because Amy needs him constantly. In a way, I guess you could say, that is Amy’s revenge. And then there is Janis, with whom Mitch still has a close relationship.

Of course, they’re not the only family in the situation of having had a father leave his wife and children after having an affair, but their subsequent relationships
are
unusual because of Amy’s problems. Mitch and Janis are still so involved with each other because of their daughter. Trying to save Amy also brings Janis and Jane together on a regular basis. I understand how strange it must be for Janis to have to collaborate with the woman whom Mitch left her for. Equally Jane must also feel awkward because, as Janis loves to point out, as long as Amy is sick, it will always be her and Mitch primarily dealing with it.

The dynamics between these two women and Amy herself are even more complicated. It seems to me that Amy does try to have a relationship with her mother and her step-mother but Mitch always needs to be in control and consequently all these relationships are monitored through him. Mitch is basically the centre point and I’m sure that playing that role is tough for him. Mitch often complains that it tears him into pieces, but I can’t help but feel that he has created this situation and in a way it works for him because it enables him to have full control.

My television crew are ultra-accommodating when it comes to filming Janis at the Intercontinental Hotel in London. She walks with a cane, visibly limping when she arrives, wearing simple slacks and a blouse. She looks very much like her daughter and is a vibrant, energetic woman. She is also very sexual. Very aware of herself, of her large breasts, about which she makes jokes all the time.

In our first interview, it becomes obvious that she is much tougher than Mitch, possibly much colder, in her attitude towards her daughter and her problem. While Mitch is trying to break through a wall to save Amy, Janis’s attitude seems very much: ‘
What can I do? She has to come to a decision herself that she is addicted? What can I do
?’ Her attitude towards Blake is very defined – to her he is nothing.

I ask Janis what the most difficult moment was for her in the last few years. ‘… It looks like you think things turned really black for you when she married Blake,’ I comment.

‘Yes,’ she agrees, ‘but I believe [Amy] had to have been out of her head to do it.’

‘Well,’ I say, ‘talking objectively what do you think she found in Blake?’

‘I think she saw a chance to “rescue” him,’ Janis replies, rolling her eyes dramatically, ‘because she speaks of him as having [had] a terrible life. She says … he didn’t know what else to do and “I can help him” and it’s … that naivety
… that she can help people. That’s what she wants to do all the time.’

‘What’s a day in the life of Amy like?’ I ask.

“Well, she’s not recording at the moment …’ Janis muses.

‘She hasn’t recorded since she met Blake, right?’ I ask.

‘Well, no, but she needs to get back … [to] it. I think Amy is banging around not knowing what to do with herself.’

If
she wants to record, though, what’s stopping her, I say to Janis.

‘I don’t know,’ she replies. ‘I think it’s just [Amy] can’t get herself together. When she has to be anywhere she will take
forever
to get ready. … She’s not a person to rush and she has always taken her time.’

‘I spoke to Mitch. … He was heartbroken that he had to write a cheque for £100,000 for [Amy] missing a show in Paris.’

‘Oh, yes.’

‘And there was no explanation [for Amy’s no-show]?’ I query.

‘No … Mitch and I, thank God, are looking after her finances otherwise, my goodness, it would probably all be gone.’

‘Mitch was telling me Blake has a very expensive drug habit something like £14,000 a week. … Have you ever seen Amy … on the hard drugs?’

‘Well,’ Janis replies, ‘I’ve seen her where she can just about open her eyes and [is] really not with it.’

‘That’s really heartbreaking.’

‘Yes, I want to say to her
“Amy, what are you doing? Don’t you know what you’re doing?”
But she has … got herself onto it to help her get through. And I understand that.’

‘What do you mean by that?’ I ask, wanting to hear the answer.

‘Well, she’s finding life to be tough at the moment. And you would think she’s got it all but she hasn’t. She’s … alone.’

‘She’s lonely?’ I query. ‘… She has you, but …’

‘Yeah, but what she needs is somebody who will love her … care for her … look after her on a one-to-one level because she hasn’t got that,’ Janis says.

‘Does Blake love her?’ I ask.

‘I think they are playing the love game,’ Janis responds. ‘It’s not true love. He’s not being loving towards her. …’

‘Do you think Amy understands that she is not loved by him?’ I push.

‘I think what’s happening is with his using emotional blackmail it’s … “if you loved me, you’d do such and such” [and Amy’s] “Well, of course, I love you, of course I do.” And he’s playing a game with her.’

‘What’s their age difference?’ I ask.

‘A year.’

‘But she’s childish?’

‘Yes. But the fact that he is the supplier of the drugs [means] he has the control,’ Janis says.

‘Did she know he was on hard drugs when she met him?’ I ask.

‘She forgave him for it,’ Janis explains. ‘And excused it by saying “Oh, he’s had [a] hard life.”’

‘But Amy’s intelligent – from a “good family”?’ I say, meaning surely she should know better? She knows that hard drugs won’t simply go away, especially as her mother is a pharmacist.

‘She had always said, “They are not for me … I don’t need them,”’ Janis confirms. ‘And probably the marijuana was as hard as it got [before]. … I think it’s a case of [Blake] may have said “Try a bit of this. It’ll make you really feel better.” … I think that’s how it began … He said, “No, really … I promise you it’s good!”’

‘When you saw Blake the first time did you think there was something wrong despite the fact that you didn’t like him?’

‘No!’ she exclaims. ‘I thought he was a
nothing!
That Amy had taken pity on him.’

‘… When there was the problem,’ I ask, ‘did you think maybe I should call [his parents]?’

‘No, no, no! Oh no!’ Janis stresses emphatically. ‘… I had assessed [Blake’s mother] quite quickly. I realized she … was trying to identify with Amy and Blake … “Oh I’m a youngster too!”’ she mimics.
‘No. She’s. Not.’

‘… Are they still in good communication with Amy?’ I enquire.

‘No!
Not at all. … They have not made any effort to contact Amy,’ Janis states.

‘Are they in good communication with their son?’ I query.

‘That I don’t know,’ Janis replies, continuing, ‘… but when I was abroad in Italy, Blake was with Amy and Blake called me “Mummy” – and it was as if he had stuck a knife in my belly. … I felt sick. How dare he call me “Mummy”?!
Who’s he
?’

‘What did you say?’ I query.

‘I said nothing! I think I probably went silent at that point,’ she adds.

I ask her what she would do if Blake were here. ‘Would you accept him in your house?’

‘No! No! No!’ she says definitely.

‘If Amy wanted to bring him?’ I persist.

‘I’d say “Could you leave him at home?”’

‘Where is home for him?’ I say.

‘In Camden.’

‘Oh, with Amy?’ I query.

‘Well, yes. Or he’s somewhere else. … It’s not a situation where she’s been going out with him and I got to know him because I [didn’t].’

‘You just met him once before?’ I ask and when Janis nods, add, ‘Well maybe you and I are missing something about him.’

‘I wonder about that. When he was on tour with her, he just followed her around like a lapdog and he did nothing. NOTHING! He was just there … she went somewhere and he went there. And he did nothing and he’s earned his nobody position by being a NOBODY.’

‘Do you think Amy has the chance to recover if she remains with him?’ I ask Janis seriously.

‘No, … because he will try to maintain control.’

‘… And, if Amy wants £20,000 for drugs tomorrow?’ I ask. ‘What happens then. You cannot stop her?’

‘No,’ Janis replies. ‘No. Because it’s her money.’

‘What will happen if they don’t divorce?’ I ask Janis.