Amy Winehouse ‘confused’ by ‘undefined’ relationship with queer friend, new documentary reveals
Amy Winehouse performing on stage at Shepherd’s Bush in 2007 (Chris Christoforou/Redferns/Getty)
Amy Winehouse was “confused” by her “undefined” relationship with a female friend, a new BBC documentary has revealed ahead of the 10 year anniversary of her death.
Catriona Gourlay, one of the “Rehab” singer’s closest friends, opened up about her love for the star in the BBC Two documentary Reclaiming Amy, a new female-driven interpretation of her life, loves and legacy.
In it she reveals that she and Winehouse shared a “unique” and “undefined” relationship, and that this confused the star as she struggled to understand “what it made her”.
“When I was 19/20, I’d already been in a long-term relationship with a girl at this point, so I knew who I was,” Gourlay said, according to Metro.
“She [Amy] used to write notes while I was sleeping, ‘You were the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,’ and ‘How can you look as beautiful asleep as you do awake?'”
“Our relationship was so unique, undefined, we just loved each other very much and what I took from it, knowing her, is that she was confused about what it made her,” she continued.
“When you have something that is so undefined for years, it’s hard because it’s the thing that I think is so fundamental in understanding her and the things that did trouble her.”
Gourlay recalled how Winehouse once joked in an interview “I am not a lesbian until I’ve had four sambucas”, hinting at a deeper attraction the two of them shared.
“Perhaps people don’t realise that there were other relationships in her life where someone really did love her and care about her and would have done anything in her power to make her happy,” Gourlay suggested.
Sadly Winehouse’s battles with substance abuse and mental illness weighed too heavily on her, and she died at 27 on 23 July, 2011, due to alcohol poisoning.
Ten years on, Reclaiming Amy sees Amy Winehouse’s closest family and friends seek to “reclaim” her story by sharing the untold truth about the music icon and the impact her death had on them.
The documentary is told primarily through Winehouse’s mother, Janis, who lives with Multiple Sclerosis, a condition which threatens to strip her memories of her daughter.
Aided by those who knew her best, the documentary will follow Janis as she pieces together the rarely-seen side of Amy before it’s too late.
“I don’t feel the world knew the true Amy, the one that I brought up, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to offer an understanding of her roots and a deeper insight into the real Amy,” Janis said.
Reclaiming Amy airs on Friday 23 July at 9pm on BBC Two.
