We Need To Talk with Paul C. Brunson - Blake Remembers The Real Amy Winehouse "She Was My Best Mate”

Episode Date: July 23, 2026

15 years after Amy Winehouse’s passing, Blake Fielder-Civil reflects on one of music’s most talked-about and misunderstood love stories. From meeting Amy in Camden to the intensity of their relationship and the heartbreak that helped shape Back to Black, this conversation looks beyond the headlines at love, fame, addiction, and the complexity of remembering someone the world thought it knew. (00:00) Intro (00:31) How Blake and Amy Winehouse First Met (03:21) What First Attracted Blake to Amy Winehouse? (07:09) Blake Addresses Rumours About Dating Other People During Their Relationship (11:13) Amy Winehouse's Relationship With Fame (13:57) Paul Shows Blake a Photo of Him and Amy Together (16:44) The Huge Success of Back to Black (21:42) How Blake and Amy Rekindled Their Relationship Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Hulu original series Furious is coming to Disney Plus, starring Emmy Rossum. Furious follows FBI agent Alice Black on the hunt for a mysterious and calculating serial killer. Both walk their own paths toward justice, and as their lives start to intertwine, the line between right and wrong begins to blur. Don't miss the three-episode premiere of the Hulu original series Furious on July 27th, only on Hulu on Disney Plus. Welcome to We're Talking. As we remember, Amy Winehouse, on the anniversary of her passing,

I revisit my conversation with Blake Fielder Civil to look back at the love story behind the headlines. In your 20s, can we talk about a rendezvous at a pub? Oh, yeah, okay. At a pub, which it's interesting. I think, well, I want to say, I think I might have gone to this pub or I don't know if it's closed now. It could make a sign? Yeah, yeah, they should still be there. Yeah, okay, still with it.

Can you take me to that day, that evening when you met Amy? So it really was a case of I'd been in, I've been to watch a horse race. I'd want some money. And so I had that cockiness. So I was a bit flash. So I walked into the pub giving it large. Yeah. But I mean, I was a 20-od-year-old-old man and full head of hair.

And, you know, a pocket full of money. So all of that felt really good. And felt, I think looking back, yeah, I was starting to get to a stage of enjoyment in my life for the first time. A bit of security. Not in a sense of a mortgage and a job. Just in a, that's who I want to be. That's the type of person. That's what I'm going to do.

She was playing pool, if I remember. And I was quite good at pool. So obviously, ask for a game of pool. You did. Yeah, I said, can't play next. And then from there, you know by that time, don't you? You do. So you see her playing pool, which, believe it or not, there's a few little things I have for you.

Okay. I want to show you this is. Yeah, yeah, exactly like that. It looks something like this. Exactly like that, yeah. Yeah. With that hair, that type of top. Yeah.

Yeah. She loved pool. She, I didn't realize. So she was good at pool. Yes, she was good at pool. It was good as me, but she was good. Oh, yeah. So she could beat me quite often.

Oh, she could? Yeah, she was at-goos. And she played a lot. All right, all right. So she's playing, you see her and you decide to play. Yeah. Do you remember the first words that you utter to each other? As much as it would be nice to say, it was something great.

No, it would have just been, do you want to drink? Okay. Okay. Do you want to drink? If it's not broken, you don't have to fix it. I think, but you've got to remember dating in 2002 or, 2001, where it was when we first met, I think it was 20001. It was slightly different climate to today.

It wasn't quite the same. It was perhaps more, it was perhaps more expected in common to chat someone in a pub. To chat someone up. Yes. To talk to somebody that you meet rather than, you know, to rent a day or to, just a different climate. It was. It was, you're right. So I was able to say, oh, do you fancy a drink or do you want a game, just something like that.

And then from there, we were, we just do. nothing. You're just doing your thing, talking back and forth. What was it about her that really caught your eye in those first few moments? I've always maintained that she was a, it's a beautiful, beautiful one. And I know that Amy had self image issues. Again, I could elaborate on that in the sense that the media weren't always kind about Amy's appearance even before the addiction. I remember an article describing her as a plump jazz staff. This is like years and years. So years before Back to Black was written.

Okay. So there was always that cunning narrative. Again, the press, I'd like to think they're kinder nowadays. I know they're not. But it was fully accepted and able to say, oh, this person's fat. There was those things called a Ring of Truth on a cover of a Celebrity magazine and they would highlight a picture of say a celebrity and it would be something about them like if they had like if they had hair under their arm or hair on the face or like you know dry skin on their feet and they would zoom it up to make it massive and they did want of Amy having like some some kind of baby hair on the side of her face okay and just made a real thing of it and her acne so I think that was a part of our finger first

was that she thought I was good looking. I knew she was. So she got a validation in a sense from me saying, you're hot. I see it. I see it. Because she didn't really believe that she was attractive.

Exactly that. And I think I would challenge, the people that you'll have head on here as well, you'll have had that where you can have 100 people saying nice things, then one or two people that, for some reason, you know, they're the ones that you're remembering

that can keep you up at night sometimes especially then take as account being in your 20s. Yes. Young. So 2004, okay? So you meet 2004. At this point, Frank, her album,

Frank is already out. Yes, yeah, yeah. Okay, so did you recognize her as a musician? No, we went on a, when she told me that she was a musician, I was like, because it was in Camden

and everyone was, musician but then I mean she said no not like like I'm actually good she was like no I'm a real musician yeah yeah I'm not like saying it you know and then when we first sort of chilled indoors and she got guitar and singing to me I was like oh it amazing there she was real okay so I didn't know the music it wasn't my music per se I I've been into hardcore punk for 30 years. That's all I really tend to listen to. But Amy's music was something, you know, anyone could appreciate it.

Anyone could hear and go, oh, that's really, really different and unusual and beautiful. And, you know, her voice was obviously special. So I had an appreciation for it as soon as I knew it. But now, one of our first dates, we went into McDonald's and she went, oh, this is one of my songs. Oh, wow. Yeah. And I was like, huh?

Yeah. Look at that. Look at that. Because I think also it's important for everyone to understand that when Frank came out, this is her first album. Yeah. And it charted, but it was nowhere near the mass success. Yeah, I don't know.

The Back to Black was. Yeah, yeah, yeah. As far as I'm a one, no, I know Back to Black obviously did. Yeah, huge numbers because that was, you know, I was around at that part. By the time I met Amy, yeah, Frank had come out. that we weren't followed everywhere by the press. It was there. There was an element of it, but it was no way how it got.

How good. So now with meeting Amy as well, what I saw in, you know, all the films reading is that she had a boyfriend, you had a girlfriend. Is that accurate? There's no shortcut for saving time, but saving money is simple. Just combine your car and home insurance with Bel Air Drive. Direct and save. Get a quote at fellar direct.com. You know that moment when everything feels in sync?

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Tap the banner to shop now. Love passionately, drink responsibly. Or no. Semi, I did have, yes, it is accurate. I did, we were seeing other people, but in a sense, I always thought I was, at least in my head, I thought I was quite upfront in that sense. I didn't try and deceive Amy.

I didn't say, you know, this isn't my situation. But at the same time, yeah, I was seeing somebody else, she was seeing somebody else, it was not ideal. The funness of like, oh, it's, sounds scummy, but the illicitness of being like, oh, it's in a fair. It's not fun. It's not, it's not sexy. You just want to be with that person.

You don't want to do that. And you don't want to carry that in your soul. Because it went to that relationship. Yes. But now in the first, what was it the first? Well, you tell me, you tell us, is that the first month or so, you two were together all the time

because didn't she this is where she got the tattoo of your name Oh yeah straight away Was it within the first like straightway Within a couple of weeks She came to see me at work

She's coming maybe three four times a week To come and sit with me Like have a drink And she came in one day It was like a afternoon We went upstairs It was a really nice cafe in Camden

She went upstairs to the balcony And she goes, oh, I've got someone to show you. And then she showed me, yeah. Two weeks, ten days, maybe. It was cool. Obviously, you know, you're like, whoa, for me, that's me. Two weeks in, she has your name. She then can't be in the other relationship.

You think? Yeah, I was thinking, you can't. Unless she is a smooth, smooth. Yeah. No, obviously, I think there was no hiding it on her. aside from that point. But Amy could be ruthless. She would just tell you she was a lot a lot braver than me. She would just say, she'd be like, no, I'm with this. I'm done. I'm with him. I'm with it. In that first nine to ten months, right? Yeah. What are some of the things that you two

would enjoy doing, you know, what was life like between the two of you? Well, we were young, so we were in our 20s in Camden. So it was a good social scene. Amy didn't do drugs at this day. She liked smoking cannabis. So our lives were at that stage going to the pub, playing pool, watching a lot of films, sitting on the balcony of the front porch, like just sitting there drinking bottles of Dooley's or Baileys, horribly sweet liquors and liquors.

Occasionally getting stoned together. Yeah. What would you all talk about? because one of the things that I just have been so impressed by is Amy's writing ability. Yeah. And how... Definitely. Yeah.

Yeah. Which tells me that her thought... When her heart was in it... Yes. Yeah, she could write amazing. I say that when the heart was in it, there's times when Amy could have had the opportunity to write the music for the Bond film. Yeah, yeah, they asked her to do

The second Daniel Craig one Is it quantum of solace, I believe They asked her to do that And she She couldn't do it at that stage Her heart wasn't in it She'd That's right me when I say she was brave

You know, so she wanted to do something It would be done It would be done, I see it I know she loved singing I know she loved performing But I also know there was a side of Amy That would have loved to have been able to just be somebody completely

anonymous okay in a sense i don't mean that as in she didn't want to have her talent she did she loved it it was what she was born to do but there were times in the first nine 10 months where even though as i've said earlier the press wasn't as bad there were still occasions when she would be out shopping and she wasn't able to shop because people would come up to her and it would get quite intense there was no bodyguards around she was just like out shopping in sainsprose um and she yeah i remember that quite vividly she came back one time really really upset before back to black after frank just said you know i don't know if i want this really i want to be able to go and do normal things but i i feel like obviously if she would still be around she would definitely have worked out how to do

both by now how to imagine yeah i didn't realize that at that period that she was already beginning to have a adverse reaction to people recognizing her. Not just people recognizing unkind comments in newspaper articles or just it would sometimes affect people's perceptions. So Amy was quite from this, especially from back to black, after that stage with rehab song, it was almost accepted that it was a part of the, it was a part of the tabloids week. They'll get a picture of Amy drinking, you know, or partying. And so I think, yeah, I think there was an advert,

there was always an awareness. I think I used to work for a newspaper as well. So she knew full well what she was dealing with. All right, all right, fair. So she wrote, I fell in love with somebody who I would have died for. We were in love and we were together and that's like a real drug.

Would you say that you two fell for each other too fast? With Amy and I, we were in love, no doubt about it, and most definitely would have died for each other and would have done anything for each other. It wasn't a case that it was more too intense, too fast. Can I show you a photo? My sadly. That I believe is one of the coolest

photos I think I've ever seen of a couple and to me this represents the epitome of London during this time. Oh, that's it. Yeah. That's a happy picture that, isn't it? Yes. Can you describe what's happening there? Yeah.

I'm doing, um, I think I think what's going on. That's sorry, that's an ace picture. It's funny seeing these pictures. These aren't things I look at. Yeah. These are memories which are hard for me to revisit. You understand that. Yeah.

It's hard for me because she's not here still. I hear you. And that was my best mate. Yeah. And, you know, we were happy. And the drugs was a side of it eventually. But there was also just the day-to-day couple live, just feeling safe together, watching a film,

laugh together, maybe having a meal, normal stuff that love was built on. Our love had nothing to do with addiction and addiction had nothing to do with our love. That's where it went. It wasn't who we were in that. I'm with you. And that's why this for me, and I won't even, I know, I know it's, you know, it's interesting, I didn't realize how heavy looking at some of these images would be for you. But now hearing what you're saying, especially because you haven't

looked at these in quite some time. For me, this embodied, I think, the love that you two had, you know? A bit cheeky, bit silly. A bit silly, cheeky. Yeah. So when you think about how fast that love was, so you said that you really, it was fast, it was intense, is that what led to the first breakup? Yeah, obviously the drinking.

was creeping up. And then I said, this is getting a bit much. And we're saying horrible things to each other when we don't mean. Let's give it a little rest. It was after that she was the first attempt at rehab, yeah. Okay. For alcohol, not for drugs. Exactly, for alcohol.

So, and this is also during this period, she's writing back to black. That's right. Yeah, so this gave her the experiences. So, yeah, so me, Essentially, obviously, there's been so many people that have said it. I remember, this is me being a name dropper. You ready? Yes.

I was at Cachele Festival and Drew Barrymore came into the dressing room and I love Drew Barrymore. I was a great actress. Yes. Amy too. She came into a dressing room and said, Back to Black's the best breakup album ever. She goes, I broke up with my boyfriend recently and I've just been driving around, listening to it in her car and just it's helped me so much. Yes.

Yes. But that came from a real place because it was our breakup. It was. So you know when I think about this is that back, so back to black, let's just look at the sheer reach of it. So over eight times platinum in the UK. Well, I know she did very well. I've been with her when she was presented lots of discs. Lots of discs.

Yeah. So back to black was certified eight times platinum in the UK, three times platinum in the US. It sold over 20 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of the 2000s. It spent over 170 weeks on the UK albums chart. Yeah. Went on to win five Grammys. Yeah. All right.

Now, I happen to have right here next to me. Yeah. If this is okay, I'm not sure if it's too much. I got thanked on this. Oh, you did? Yeah, I think so. I think my name's on here at the back. I know it's definitely in a thanks.

Let's see if it's inside. I'll show you it. Because I remember she bought it to the pub to show me. And I was laughing. So I just get one little. Oh, here it is? Yeah. Oh, I know.

Oh, wow. I know. You were just. Can you see now why I was a little bit? I see it. Hmm. Thank you. Yeah.

You're just kind of mixed in there. But I think she was at the time when this was asked to be off to write her thanks. She was still in seeing the person that she'd been seeing over her. break so she was trapped in a bit of a position of I can't really release this album and then thank the person it's about because you know it's yes yes it's more I mean it is it's a genuinely authentic up upset breakup album sorry it is genuinely yeah to to the point where you recommend it to people in there oh my goodness listen to this do you have do you have a favorite track yeah I liked I like, when I was seeing a live, my favourite track's not on there,

my favorite track's not on there, my favorite track was on Frank. So my favorite track of Amy's ever is called Fuck Me Pumps, which is the best song on Frank, in my opinion. My favorite song on this one, I loved the beat of, you know, I'm no good. Yes. I went to see that music video. That was a, I had a real, you know, trip because she's like, this, that guy's you.

That's you. Yeah, it's the first time I knew that she'd written any song about me at all, when she said, oh Blake, I'm doing a video. Do you want to come and see me? I was like, yeah, of course, I'll come and see you. I went there, I had no idea what the album was. She hadn't played it to me. Really?

And I'm stood there and then I was like listening things. I'm hearing lines like, Jamaica and Spain and I'm like, well, I went to Jamaica and you went to, is this about, I said, is this about me? And I know, it's all about you. It's all about you. So it's like when I was in the Blake tattoo,

I was like, what? You know, that kind of like, oh, happy and proud and like, but blown away as well, like how it's such a strange feeling to have somebody write, you know, not just songs, beautiful, amazing songs about you. Yes. Even if some of it's like you were a bit of a, bit of a bastard, a bit of a player, a bit of a, you know, like that kind of, Amy liked that sound, that kind of 60s girl group sound. She liked that kind of bit feeling, which was obviously more, you know,

acceptable maybe 20, 30 years ago. She liked the idea of being like hopelessly in love. Yes. Of being, you know, almost old-fashioned in a sense. She said to me many times, I want to just be a wife, just make your dinner. And just, you know, that to be us, this, I'm just your wife. Yes. Get your beer after work type thing.

Yeah. You know, quite honestly, it's, it's an album that you just can play. There's no skips. Do you know, finally enough, when me and Amy used to be, you know, we were in last time it happened, I think I can remember it was in Cairns or Nice or whatever, and we'd gone to a bar and they were playing it. And she always said, can you turn that off? Yeah. She would never like, like, want to hear it out and about.

Why do you think that is? I don't know. I think maybe it contained a lot of memories for her that went deeper than just somebody, you know, maybe singing along to react. Okay, okay. I think that's a not, I think that's part of why Amy, aside from the music, aside from the, the, the, this, the actual genius of the songs, is that people can relate to it because she's writing about things

that most people have felt, you know, like, just being in love with somebody and it not working out for whatever reasons and how that feels and how it hurts. And, yes, loves a real dark emotion at times, You can make you do some really crazy things. Yes. So how quickly do you two come back together? I remember clearly that the confirmation of let's just do with this together.

Let's just get back together. I'd gone to see her in a pub called the Holy Armton, Camden. The guy that she was previously seeing showed up and she said, I'm with Blake. Obviously, I'm going to be with Blake. I know. I've always loved Blake. You knew that when I met you.

So you can't really be too upset about it. She was just. That a matter of that? Yeah, yeah, and the guy got photographed. It was a story. There were journalists everywhere. They knew it. They said, oh, Amy gets rid of Alex.

Was that really the moment that you two were back together? From then on, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that was, that was, I'd say we were married about maybe seven, eight months, yeah. Look at that. And if you want to hear the full, unfiltered stories from today's game. you can check them out on the We Need to Talk page.

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