Amy Winehouse’s mum: I didn’t know about Amy’s self-harm and drug use

Amy Winehouse’s mum Janis has admitted she didn’t spot Amy’s self-abuse and drug problems until it was too late.

Amy has previously admitted to eating disorders and self-harming but Janis didn’t realise until Amy confessed all: “She always had a very good appetite. She was never fussy.”

“Last summer she performed at a friend’s wedding and she was sick in the loos. Then, before Christmas, I was taking her to the dentist and she admitted she had anorexia and bulimia.”

“Her self-harming was never apparent. I never knew about it at the time. She would tell me about ‘her friend’s’ problems and she sometimes said that one of them used to cut themselves but I never realised then she might have been talking about herself.”

Janis spent last weekend with her daughter at the Four Seasons hotel in Hampshire, following Amy’s collapse the previous week, but it was only really then that she got a full picture of her youngest child’s life: “I’ve known for a long time that something was wrong but I always thought it was drink. Close family were telling me it was more but I couldn’t believe it.”

“Right now I don’t even think this is Amy’s fault. I think her brain’s addled. This isn’t Amy. It’s as if her whole life’s turned into a stage performance.”

“A part of me has prepared myself for this over the years. She has said to me, ‘I don’t think I’m going to survive that long.’ It’s almost as though she’s created her own ending. She’s on a path of self-mutilation, quite literally.”

“For most of her life, I’ve been aware of needing to keep an eye on her. She’s reckless, very determined and if she wants to do something she will just do it. No one can stop her once she’s made her mind up but she never thinks of the consequences.”

“Where she’s got, she’s got too soon. She lacks the maturity to be able to cope.”