Saving Amy

Saving Amy by Daphne Barak Page A

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Authors: Daphne Barak
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intimate details of his sex life with Amy to the press, an action that helped to strengthen Amy’s ‘bad girl’, ‘rock chick’ image.
    Amy seemed happy with Blake, however, and Blake joined her on a trip to Canada, where she was performing, about a month after the New York trip. It was then that Mitch first began to worry about Blake’s influence on his daughter.
    He says, ‘… [We] went to Canada and he was already there with Amy. … We are talking about April 2007. Amy did maybe three or four shows … but they did not move out of the room. They were in the room the whole time. And when she went to do the shows … he was in the room, just all the time.’
    ‘Did that bother you?’ I ask.
    Mitch concurs this time. ‘That did concern me. Because at the time, being naive, I am thinking, “What is he doing in the room for all the time? Sleeping? He can’t be sleeping all day.” He was in the room 23 hours.’
    ‘What did you do?’ I say to him.
    ‘Again we went about our business and I said to Amy, “Where’s Blake? I haven’t seen him. …”
    ‘… When did you actually think, “Oh my God! My daughter is dating a drug addict? A hard drug addict?”’ I say.
    ‘… He was in the room and he never emerged. I don’t know what he was doing in the room. I can only surmise what he was doing, but he never came out of the room. But Amy’s situation, she never seemed to me at that point to be out of control. I saw two of her performances, which were absolutely superb, so she was able to perform and put on a good show. … The problems started much later.’
    ‘So when you reflect back that was probably the time?’ I persist.
    ‘Yeah, I would say so. With the benefit of hindsight I look back – yeah maybe, that’s right.’

    In April 2007, Amy and Blake became engaged. The British tabloid the Sun was one of several newspapers to break the story, commenting that ‘Caner Of the Year contender Amy’ had decided that Blake was ‘the one’ and had recently been seen flashing her Tiffany ringaround to friends. Amy publicly referred to Blake as her ‘boy’ and also her ‘best friend’ – much in the same way that she’d referred to Alex Claire when they were together just a few months earlier.
    I ask Janis if she was surprised by her daughter’s engagement. Janis comments that when Amy introduced her to Blake, she ‘took one look and said – “He is not somebody that she [Amy] should be with. He has nothing to offer!” … I was polite and when I heard the story that he’d asked her to marry him, well, I thought … she won’t. She won’t, because … I had been at her home and she said, “Mum, I don’t think I am the marrying sort. I don’t think it’s for me … I’m not the sort to think of somebody else so I don’t think I could work marriage.”’
    While on tour in the States though, Amy and Blake did get married in Miami; neither Mitch nor Janis were present.
    ‘Did they elope?’ I ask Janis.
    ‘They didn’t so much elope,’ she says. ‘… I think it’s just a weird story. They got married at … Miami-Dade County [Marriage License Bureau in Florida on 18 May] …And when I spoke to her I … heard that she had spoken to Mitch before that and he had said, “Don’t get married Amy. Promise me you won’t get married. Mum will be so upset.”’
    ‘Did she promise you?’ I ask Mitch, intrigued by his answer.
    Mitch responds: ‘I knew she was going to get married [but] I didn’t say “Don’t get married.” I said, “Don’t get married without your Mother being there” because, Janis won’t mind me telling you, when Janis andI got married her mother wasn’t there. And it was devastating. …’
    I turn to Janis. ‘Were you devastated when your mother wasn’t [at your wedding to Mitch]?’
    Janis grimaces, ‘No! I was quite happy actually …’
    Mitch interjects, ‘… Because Janis didn’t get on with her Mum. I think I was more devastated for Janis …

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