He’s the star with the sensational six-pack and a 100-watt smile that has dazzled us for more than 20 years, but when Peter Andre looks in the mirror each morning, all he sees is a shock of curly hair that reminds him of a childhood trauma.
Despite years of therapy, Peter, 49, can’t leave the house without straightening the curls that made him a target of racist bullies, who tormented him because of his Greek heritage.
Peter, whose family moved to Australia from Harrow, in North West London, when he was six, says: “In the early years in Australia, I suffered a lot of racism. It was a rough time.
“Not only were we the only Greeks on the Gold Coast, but I had an English accent, curly hair, a big nose – and we really stood out. I still straighten my hair because the curly hair reminds me of me being that little kid and those kids calling me what they did at school.”
The jibes cut so deep, the emotional scars are clear, even four decades on.
He says: “I wouldn’t just turn up to an event with full curly hair. I just can’t bring myself to do it, even now, and I’ve had therapy. I still see what those kids called me when I look in the mirror.”
His feelings of insecurity became even worse when he was a victim of a knife attack. He revealed earlier this year how he was in his late teens when a gang of strangers cornered him in a Sydney nightclub, dragged him into a bathroom and held a blade to his throat.
He walked away unscathed – on the outside – but once more bottled up his fear. He says: “I still wouldn’t be seen dead in a nightclub because I associate it with trauma. These guys were serious.
“I kept thinking, ‘What have I done wrong?’ And that’s when I started to internalise the fear. I just bottled it up and thought, ‘I’ll be fine’. Because other people can’t see it, they think you’re fine, and you suffer in silence.
“Millions of people suffer like this, there are little trigger points that make them fearful.”
After hitting the big time in 1995 at the age of 22 with Mysterious Girl, his teenage fans were as hardcore as his six-pack, and he enjoyed the attention, throwing himself into the party lifestyle and enjoying flings with the likes of Spice Girl Mel B. But by the age of 27, it all became too much.
He says: “From 1999 to 2004, they were the disappearing years. I was in hell. When I got to 27, I sold out Wembley Arena. I’d fulfilled my dream and decided to take a break for a few months.”
Three months turned into three years, and then he had a mental breakdown.
Speaking to Carol Vorderman on Life Changing Stories – The Pride of Britain Podcast, he says: “A panic attack was something I’d never experienced before, it came from nowhere, I froze, rolled myself up into a ball, couldn’t speak to anyone for days and days.
“I went to New York and asked a friend to help me check myself in somewhere. They sent me to a ward. They didn’t know what was wrong with me, they tried me on all sorts of medication. I thought I was never gonna be the same.” Luckily, seeing a new therapist was a turning point.
He says: “It was like a lightning bolt moment. I beat it. I remember praying, saying, ‘Please if you give me another chance to see life as I want to see it, I’ll never take it for granted again’.”
It was around that time that he went on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!. He says: “I was still on medication, really scared and nervous, but I thought, ‘I’ll just do this show’ and the rest is history.”
It certainly was. He wed campmate Katie Price in 2005 and they divorced four years later. But on the happier side, he also launched his TV career and had a family of his own – Junior, who is now 17, and Princess, 15.
He and his second wife Emily Macdonagh, a doctor he met after her surgeon dad performed his kidney stone op in 2010, have two kids, Amelia, eight, and Theo, five.
Peter now finally feels he is the man he always “wanted to be”.
Currently starring in his first West End role, as Vince Fontaine in Grease, he says: “Over the last few years I have changed a lot.
“I’ve gone back to that kid I was who was so grateful for everything. I lost myself a bit when I found fame young. My dad kept making sure I stayed on track, if I got bit arrogant he would put me right back in my place, but its hard when you’re still young.
“We were brought up Jehovah’s Witnesses, very strict, always polite, living your life in a Godly way – even though now I have sinned every sin possible.
“But what they instilled in me has come back. I feel very grateful about things now.
“I’m now who I really wanted to be.”
Now he is helping his eldest children through those hard years of early adulthood, the way his dad did for him.
He tells Life Changing Stories listeners: “I used to joke about Princess being a nun and never having a boyfriend, but I’ve softened now. I’m the biggest softie and they know it. They take advantage of it too.”
Junior has followed in his dad’s footsteps and last month released his first single Slide, which went to No1 on the iTunes chart.
Peter doesn’t mind playing second fiddle. He says: “I was with Junior the other day and this girl ran straight past, gave the phone to me and said, ‘Can you take a picture of me and Junior?’
“I love that.”
As a proud dad, he says finding great role models is important, which is why he is a huge supporter of the Daily Mirror’s Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with TSB.
He says: “Yes, they’re a celebration, but the whole country get to be part of it. People want to be part of it, they love what it stand for, I love what it stands for.
“People want this positivity.”
Perhaps at this year’s ceremony he will finally feel able to wear his curls as well as his famous smile with pride.
- Listen to Peter and other famous names on Life Changing Stories – The Pride of Britain Podcast, available from all podcast outlets now.
