bbspy

Why did you want to do CBB?
I wanted to do a reality show to promote my books. I’ve been asked to do a hundreds of them in the States but I’ve said ‘no’ every time. I just wanted to do the biggest and the best! Also, I’m writing a novel and they always say to write what you know. So I thought it would be interesting to go into a beautiful Orwellian situation, listen to different dialogue from lots of different people, and think about the way people talk to each other.

Do you know any of your of the speculated potential housemates?
I didn’t research who any of them were so I have no idea, really. I am feeling cautious anticipation about it.

Who would you not like to be in the house with?
Self-absorption is boring. People who are rude, are boring. People who are unpleasant, are boring. I think entertainers generally try to be pleasant. But if there are people from all walks of life, then who knows? I don’t know what to expect.

Do you have any bad habits that might annoy?
What can I say? I’m charming, and fabulous! I have no bad habits. No, Michael [Angie’s partner] says I cook a lot, which is fine, and I clean up after myself, but it’s never up to his standards.

What do you think the public perception is of you?
I don’t know. It’s been so many years since I had the pleasure of living here, so there are two or three generations that don’t know me. The only thing I imagine that’s recognised is my last name. The music lovers know how heavily I was involved with David’s career for the first seven or eight years, and then we broke up, and I’ve been an author all my life.

You seem to have had one hell of a life…
Thank you. Yes, it was. I had a crazy childhood, I was born in Cyprus and went to school in Switzerland. I got thrown out of a college in Connecticut for having an affair with a girl. I promised my dad I wouldn’t get pregnant so I slept with a girl. Then I started working for Mercury Records and I met David. I went and saw him at the Round House, and he was fabulous, and he was the song writer, and I liked that. He wasn’t a puppet.

Is it true that you were massively influential in David’s costumes and characters?
People say to me, ‘You did Ziggy Stardust’. No, I did not. David did Ziggy Stardust. What you have to remember is, David was the youngest visualiser at the biggest advertiser in London at the time. He was creative. But I grew up knowing Liberace and he was so wonderful and so charming and I loved all the rings on his fingers. So I loved the idea that if you’re going to be a star, maybe you should be a star all the time, not just when you’re on stage. So we went and found designers and made clothes and got the publicity and did all of that. I did a lot of stuff. We were a really dynamic couple, and we were working it. We had so much fun. It was a wonderful, magical time.

What do you think of the music world these days?
Actually, we are setting up a company and we’re going to nurture and cultivate some of the great young song writers out there, the talent that is being totally ignored by a man who has a company called Syco. Do I need to say any more? To me, art is not competitive. So if you say to me, ‘Do you want to win CBB?’, I just think, ‘How can you win CBB?’. It doesn’t make sense. It’s just a great Orwellian concept and it’s an entertainment show. I intend to entertain.

When was the last time you saw David?
Forty years ago? I go to great lengths to avoid him. Did you think I was going to be polite, to be nice, so that people like me?