Mysterious Girl hitmaker Peter Andre. Photo / Getty Images
Mysterious Girl hitmaker Peter Andre. Photo / Getty Images
Popstar Peter Andre has opened up about his struggles with racial bullying and depression, revealing that during his lowest moments, he begged his wife Emily to leave him.
The 46-year-old revealed to The Sun that he has struggled with panic attacks since the beginning of his career in the early 90s, and the depression set in after his brother Andrew passed away from kidney cancer in 2012.
The singer says he got so low that in 2015, he asked his wife to leave him, saying, "You can either stay and stick with me through this, which I personally wouldn't, or you can go.
"And she said: 'It's not even a question, we are going to get through it together.'"
According to the Sun, Andre previously said of his brother's diagnosis: "I was horrified, so shocked, and I broke down. The tears were just rolling down my face and I've cried every day since."
The singer revealed that he has been on and off medication and in and out of therapy over the past two decades.
He also spoke to The Guardian about how his mental health issues may have arisen as a result of racial bullying which started when his Greek-Cypriot family emigrated from the UK to Australia.
"When I moved to the Gold Coast, we were the only ethnic family I knew. It was all blond-haired, blue-eyed Australians," he said.
"At school one day they tied me to the fence and took turns throwing stones to see who was going to hit me in the head. I was petrified."
He continued: "I remember a teacher saying to me: 'Listen here, you greasy wog, if you think you're going to do well in my class, you've got another think coming. You sit in the back corner. I don't want to see your face.' That's how they talked. The teachers!"
Andre also recalled a time he was attacked at knifepoint by a stranger in a nightclub after he achieved success in the early 1990s.
He said: "This guy grabbed me in a nightclub in Sydney. He pushed me into the bathroom, pulled out a knife and put it on my neck, and said, 'Give me a reason I shouldn't finish you off.' He kept picking at me with the knife.
"He said: 'You better watch your every step because when we decide the time's right, we're going to finish you.'"
Andre admitted that his panic attacks "stemmed from that fear of being killed".
He said: "I got to some very dark points where I remember praying to God; 'please get me through this day', just to get through one more day. That's how bad it got."
Andre rose to fame as a singer in the early 1990s thanks to his massive hit Mysterious Girl.
He has two children - 14-year-old Junior and 11-year-old Princess - with former glamour model Katie Price, who he married in 2005.
After splitting from Price in 2009, Andre met Emily and married her in 2015. They now share 5-year-old Amelia and 2-year-old Theo.
WHERE TO GET HELP: If you are worried about your or someone else's mental health, the best place to get help is your GP or local mental health provider. However, if you or someone else is in danger or endangering others, call police immediately on 111.
Or if you need to talk to someone else... • LIFELINE: 0800 543 354 or 09 5222 999 within Auckland (available 24/7) • SUICIDE CRISIS HELPLINE: 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) (available 24/7) • YOUTHLINE: 0800 376 633 ,free text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nzor online chat. • NEED TO TALK? Free call or text 1737 (available 24/7) • KIDSLINE: 0800 543 754 (available 24/7) • WHATSUP: 0800 942 8787 (1pm to 11pm) • DEPRESSION HELPLINE: 0800 111 757 • SAMARITANS – 0800 726 666.
