Rick Astley sank into depression after his pop career went downhill in the 1990s.
The ’80s ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ singer, 58, has recently seen his popularity surge after he appeared at Glastonbury in 2023, but he has now reflected on how he hit a rough patch more than 20 years ago, when his career started to tank – and he had difficulties in his relationship with his partner of 35 years Lene Bausager.
Rick told the Daily Mirror about how they grew apart while he spent time away from their main home renovating a second house in London: “I spent so much time at the new house it was almost as if Lene and I had separated.”
He added he and Lene sought couples therapy and he did counselling to save their relationship.
Rick went on: “The therapy helped me switch the overthinking off and to see things in a different way… it really sorted me and Lene out.
“It didn’t fix anything exactly, but it gave me the tools to deal with stuff better.
“Gradually Lene and I managed to close the gap and get back onto something like an even keel.”
Rick’s wife Lene is now his manager, with the pair meeting when Rick left another woman for her at the peak of his fame.
His career resurgence also saw him appear in a Blossoms music video – based on the true headline-grabbing story of a huge fibreglass gorilla being stolen from a garden centre.
The band revealed details of the promo as they announced their highly anticipated fifth studio album ‘Gary’ was coming out – with the record named after the primate sculpture that inspired the video.
Blossoms singer Tom, 31, said: “The video is directed by myself and my brother Ewan Ogden and it picks up where our last video left off.
“The song is based on a true story I heard on the radio last year – Gary the 8-foot fibreglass Gorilla was stolen from Reynard Garden Centre in Carluke, Scotland.
“We’ve recreated the story on screen with Rick Astley playing Andrew Scott, the owner of the garden centre, and the band stealing Gary.
“This video was so much fun to make and was shot again on 16mm film, on location around Stockport, the Peak District, and Derbyshire.
“The song itself is the centrepiece of the album and after toying with different titles, we kept going back to Gary. In the end, it could only be ‘Gary’.”
The giant Gary primate statue was stolen from a Lanarkshire garden centre in 2023 before being reunited with its owner Andrew a year later.