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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Matt Roper

Pete Doherty's breakdown kick-started very different life in middle of nowhere

Pete Doherty 's has embarked on a quiet life in the countryside, with the musician having overcome his drug addiction in recent years and leaving his old lifestyle behind.

The Libertines frontman, 43, had been known as a junkie at the height of his career, though he's transformed in life over the last few years and has been clean for two years.

The musician now lives in a rural part of France with wife Katia de Vidas - who plays the keyboard in his new band the Puta Madres - whom he married last year.

Pete - who has a son Astile, 19, and a daughter, Aisling, 11, from previous relationships - has settled in the seaside village of Etretat, in Normandy, since the Covid pandemic began.

Pete Doherty and wife Katia De Vidas have settled in the countryside in France (Katia deVidas/Instagram)

The singer and guitarist explained that he stumbed upon the location during a period when he was travelling around a lot, in part due to having been in and out of rehab.

He said: "I'd been quite itinerant for many years, in and out of rehabs, and living in buses, tents and camper vans. I fell in love with [my bandmate] Katia and we travelled around."

Pete said that the couple visited places in France and Spain, with them pitching up by rivers and beaches during their travels - before getting stuck in one place amid the pandemic.

The pair got married abroad last year (piglady72/Instagram)

Explaining the experience recently, he commented: "One day the camper van broke down in this village, then the first lockdown kicked in, so that's where we stayed."

Discussing his new life, he said: "It's a quiet, simple existence. I get up before sunrise and take the dogs for a walk. Then I go back to bed at six or seven, then get up again."

He said that he will then walk into the village and buy a local paper, which he said that he "pretends to read." The musician said he will have a coffee and a brandy at around 11am.

Pete and Katia, pictured in 2019, are bandmates in his group the Puta Madres (REUTERS)

He continued: "Then go back home and maybe watch some Turner Classic Movies, listen to some Tony Hancock, have a siesta, walk the dogs again and go to bed."

Prior to his new lifestyle, Pete had battled with drug addiction and has admitted that he was "really pushing the limits," with there having been a "few close calls."

He further explained: "I nearly lost my feet and horrible things like that. It was very close, just because of the injecting, that's what happens when you run out of veins."

Pete, pictured with Katia and a pal last year, has embarked on a quiet life in France (trampolene_band/Instagram)
It's a different lifestyle to the one he had earlier in his career (Guildford Titles)

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Pete has attended rehab over the years, lost friends to addiction and even been arrested for drug offences - with him eventually deciding to get clean a few years ago.

He said there wasn't a particular trigger for the decision, saying: "It was tough. There was no epiphany moment. It was so many years of going to rehabs and trying different ideas."

"People who have been in active addiction would say to me, 'One day you'll just know it's the time to stop.' Somehow the balance has shifted," he further commented recently.

Pete (right) has released an album this month with Frederic Lo (left) (Redferns)

Pete - who has been clean for more than two years - said that whilst it is still "a bit of struggle," the obsession "does lift and it's getting easier" as he continues his journey.

He said that fans have been encouraging him to keep up the progress, with Pete having recently released a new album, which he co-wrote alongside Frederic Lo, 57.

The Fantasy Life of Poetry and Crime - by Peter Doherty and Frederic Lo - is out now.

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