Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall has addressed the long-standing rumours that he has bedded over 3,000 women.
The singer, 65, rose to fame as the frontman of Simply Red, which formed in 1985 and has released 13 studio albums over the years.
The group has sold over 50 million albums, won two Brit Awards, and has been nominated for three Grammys.
Mick revealed in 2010 that at the peak of his fame, he was sleeping with multiple women every day.
He told The Guardian 15 years ago: ‘Between 1985 and 1987, I would sleep with about three women a day.’
He has since denied the accuracy of his comment, and when questioned about his previous claims, he told The Sunday Times Magazine: ‘I was a kid in a sweet shop who couldn’t believe his luck.’
He joked that he feels sorry for his wife, art dealer Gabriella Wesberry, 54, whom he married in 2010 and who has dealt with the rumours that he bedded 3,285 women in three years.
‘My poor wife,’ he said. ‘How she’s stuck with me, I don’t know.’
In 2023, he told The Sun on Sunday newspaper: ‘I was just touring the world and being single, being a playboy, being a bachelor — I didn’t really know what I was doing.’
The chart-topping singer said he was simply ‘just having a good time whenever’, adding: ‘I think in your life it’s a good thing to have dimension, to have done lots of different things, to have lots of different experiences.’
The singer has also previously been attached to Catherine Zeta-Jones, Helena Christensen, Steffi Graf and Love Actually actress Martine McCutcheon.
He revealed he hadn’t spoken to his daughter Romy, aged 18, about the gossip surrounding his sex life, explaining he is completely devoted to his family and his past habits have been left in the 80s.
‘It’s so far in the past,’ he told The Sunday Times Magazine. ‘I have this peculiar old-fashioned morality. I’m not religious, but I take marriage seriously. I’ve done it once and don’t intend to do it again. My wife knows that, and my daughter does too.
‘I’m completely devoted to the family and, again, that may be something to do with the amazing dedication that my father showed me.’
He also emphasised that consent was always a high priority, and the escapades were always mutual.
‘You want to be attractive and, in my psychology, imposing yourself on someone is the complete opposite of being desired. Somebody desiring you is what makes me tick. Imposing myself on somebody does not make me tick at all,’ he said.
The singer made headlines last week after halting a performance to tell fans in the crowd to ‘shut it’.
In a video captured by someone in the crowd, he could be heard saying ‘shut it’ while pointing at someone in front of him.
The 65-year-old then shouted: ‘Sock it in! I’m sick of hearing it!’
Addressing the rest of the audience, he went on to apologise for his outburst.
‘I’m sorry about that, but you know, I can’t concentrate – he’s yelling so loud.
‘You’ve come to hear me sing, not him, with the greatest respect.’
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