‘I got wed in secret’… 80s legend reveals his secrets as his album 50 surges up charts
Eighties legend having an 'amazing week' as The Sun's campaign helps his new album, 50, climb to the top of the charts
DESPITE women and girls throwing themselves at him throughout his career, there has only ever been one woman for RICK ASTLEY.
The Eighties icon has been with his partner, Danish film producer Lene Bausager, for 27 years, and few know he secretly made her his wife.
On his visit to Bizarre HQ yesterday for his stint as guest editor, Rick revealed for the first time how the couple married in the past few years.
He said: “I have been with the same woman for 27 years but we only got married recently.
“It was very, very casual. We had been engaged for 15 years but we were both very busy.
We just didn’t find a date in the diary.”
It was thanks to their daughter Emilie, who was then a student at the Royal College of Art in Copenhagen, that the couple finally tied the knot three years ago.
Rick, who lives in South London with Lene, explains: “Our daughter was visiting because she lives in Copenhagen and the three of us were in the living room. She said, ‘Are you going to get married or what?’ And we went, ‘OK, let’s do it!’
“So we just got married in the register office.
“We just thought, ‘Well, she is only home for a few weeks so let’s do it’. We didn’t tell anybody.”
Rick is in the middle of staging one of the most unlikely pop comebacks in years thanks to the surprising success of new album 50.
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But roll back 20 years and he was at risk of becoming a wedding singer after giving up on showbusiness.
If he does a wedding now it will only be for friends, where his all-time classic Never Gonna Give You Up is always on request.
He said: “I don’t really do weddings but I do sing at friends’ weddings. I did a full set at one. I sang a couple of my tunes, but only because it’s what they wanted.”
That’s what they all say, Rick.
HE'S HEADING FOR NO1 TODAY
THE Sun’s campaign to get RICK to No1 for the first time in 29 years is paying off.
Yesterday morning his album 50 was leading the race, 1,427 sales ahead of TOM ODELL’s Wrong Crowd, with the results to be announced at 6pm today.
While Rick deserves all the credit for staging what is one of the most extraordinary chart feats in years, The Sun played its part too.
Last week I got the ball rolling by revealing how a group of migrants had trashed a lorry full of Rick’s CDs in Calais, putting the campaign at risk.
Then yesterday we announced our official backing to get Rick to the top of the charts.
Rick said: “I wasn’t expecting the album to chart, so I’ll be celebrating no matter where it ends up. It’s an amazing week.”
SI WAS MANE MAN
WHEN Rick signed to hit factory STOCK AITKEN WATERMAN in 1985 he was the studio tea boy.
There he bumped into a fresh-faced SIMON COWELL, just starting out too.
Rick explained: “I remember making tea for Simon. He was always on it, he just had an energy and a vibe about him. He was like a dog with a bone, saying, ‘I’m going to get Pete and the guys to make me a record’.
“You could see he was really driven.”
Forget that. What was most impressive about the young Simon Cowell was that mullet.
JEN KNOWS WHO THIS IS?
FOR his job as guest editor Rick was required to look through all the best – and worst – showbiz pictures of the day.
This one of KYLIE JENNER taking a selfie in the mirror stuck out to him – because he didn’t have a clue who she was.
He said: “We have basically just been going through a load of photographs of people I don’t know.
“I’m not familiar with her at all, but I’m going to guess she is one of the sisters. It’s either one of the KARDASHIANS or the other ones . . . is she a Jenner?”
See, you’re not so bad at this after all, Rick.
BECKING SINGER
RICK got a nice surprise when a video emerged this month of DAVID BECKHAM singing Never Gonna Give You Up at EVA LONGORIA’s wedding.
He said: “They were singing a lot of songs, it was karaoke. It’s nice they knew some of my words. I’m a Man United fan so Becks is a hero. Here he is with BROOKLYN at the STONE ROSES gig on Wednesday in Manchester. He’s a dude who can turn up anywhere.”