Amy Winehouse’s mum has spoken of the devastating ordeal of identifying her daughter’s body after she passed away in 2011.
Amy’s mum Janis appeared on the new BBC documentary Reclaiming Amy, which will air on Friday, exactly a decade after the singer’s tragic death.
The grieving mum told of how she begged her daughter to “get up” off the gurney while attending court to officially identify her body.
Janis’s now husband Richard Collins spoke about the day she and ex-husband – and Amy’s father – Mitch Winehouse, were faced with the devastating ordeal.
“That was the hardest day of my life,” Richard said in the candid documentary. “To tell Janis that Amy was gone. She just stood there in disbelief.”
(Image: Getty Images)
He went on to explain that Mitch had just returned from America, and rushed round to the house as soon as he heard the news. “Mitch came in and Jan got up and they cuddled, and they cried together.”
Amy’s friend Michael added: “Mitch turned up and the first thing he said to me – and I’ll thank him forever for this – the first thing he said was you know she loved you.”
Richard explained: “We got to the coroner’s court on the Monday, and we got to see Amy. Thankfully she was behind glass. If there hadn’t been glass, Mitch would have thrown himself on the gurney, he really would.
(Image: Getty Images)
“He was distraught.”
Janis commented: “That’s one’s worst nightmare, identifying one’s dead child. And that was when the surrealness began.”
Richard said Janis was “distraught” and “she was looking, and that was her baby, and she said, ‘Get up, get up, get up.'”
“She looked asleep,” Janis said. “She looked like Amy lying in bed when she should be up, getting dressed for school. It felt like the same thing, just lying there. Horrible.”
Janis has opened up previously about how the documentary felt like her last chance to speak publicly about Amy after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
Richard explained on camera: “This is the first time that Janis will have ever spoken in depth. She won’t get another opportunity to say what she wants to say.”
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Speaking about her life-limiting condition, Janis said it affects her “body and mind”, as Richard explained: “Janis’ memories are not as sharp as they were.
“She’s not as eloquent as she was.”
Reclaiming Amy airs on BBC Two at 9pm on Friday, June 23.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
