Pete Doherty has revealed, in an intimate interview with the Daily Mail, that he once had an affair with Amy Winehouse and claims that he is still in love with the singer, who died last year, at the age of 27.

Both Amy and Pete (the former frontman of The Libertines) have had their musical talents overshadowed by their enduring struggles with addiction and substance abuse. Winehouse’s struggle though, ended tragically with her early death.

Sat in his favourite Parisian bistro, Wagon Bleu, Doherty reveals “yes, it’s true. Amy and I were lovers. I loved her then and, well, I still do today.” He added “but towards the end, as only lovers can, she became quite mean and cruel to me. She didn’t suffer fools... and believe me, she had a mean right hook.” During the interview, he is reminded of comments that he made about Amy three years ago, when he said “I’m kind of in awe of her because I do believe she is an incredible talent who has come out of nowhere. And like a lot of the greats she is irreplaceable so .  .  . we don’t want to lose her.” His response to hearing those words once more, was to say “Wow, I said that, did I? Well we did lose her. There but for the grace of God go I, is what I say.”

Doherty seems to remember Amy fondly, despite the apparently turbulent end to their time together. “She had such a big heart but she was physically small and increasingly frail and I never once saw her eat anything solid, just milkshakes.” Doherty is currently living in Paris, pursuing an interest in film and appears to be slowly conquering his own problems with addiction.