Victoria Clarke shared a horrifying story from Shane MacGowan’s days as an addict (Picture: Phillip Massey/FilmMagic)
Shane MacGowan’s wife Victoria Mary Clarke has revealed a terrifying anecdote from the couple’s time on a council estate while The Pogues legend battled drug addiction.
The Fairytale of New York singer died in November at the age of 65, following a bout of ill health, with his funeral held in Tipperary featuring people dancing in the aisles and a speech from Johnny Depp.
Victoria shared the actor had been a ‘tower of strength’ in her grief but that she was coping well with his loss.
Reflecting on their storied life together, she shared a heartbreaking memory from their time living in a rundown London council estate at the height of MacGowan’s addictions.
Another addict had taken an overdose in front of them and died on their living room floor but tragically Victoria recalled they likely weren’t the only one.
‘That wouldn’t have been the only one. Plenty of people dying all the time,’ she told The Guardian as she touched on MacGowan’s own battles with LSD and heroin.
The pair had been together since the 80s (Picture: Mark Large/ANL/REX/Shutterstock)
She revealed she was coping better than expected with his death (Picture: Stuart Wallace/Shutterstock)
Victoria continued: ‘There seemed to be a bit of an inevitability about that and Shane always seemed to be the only one who was destined to survive. We all thought: ‘Well, Shane will outlive everybody.”‘
Revealing the extent of his struggles, she added: ‘He would do crazy things like take 100 tabs of acid in a day then jump out of the window of a moving taxi, or paint himself blue. And he would quite often set fire to things.’
After being discovered on the floor of his apartment in 1999 by Sinead O’Connor, another legend lost this year, MacGowan was criminally charged with possession of heroin.
This incident prompted the Pogues singer to kick his drug habit, which Victoria credits for deepening their connection.
Victoria revealed an addict had died in front of them (Picture: Victoria Clarke/Instagram)
She thanked fans for helping her cope with his loss(Picture: Marc O’sullivan/REX/Shutterstock)
While speaking on Good Morning Britain previously, the 57-year-old journalist admitted she’d been preoccupied with his death and how she would spiral.
‘I spent many many years, probably at least 35 years worried about losing Shane as he pushed boundaries so much with what humans can do to their body,’ she admitted.
‘I dreaded that. I thought that I would fall apart. I thought I’d die, I thought I’d not be able to speak or go on drugs myself – something like that.’
She thanked fans for helping her get through the grief and shared: ‘I want you all to know it’s not as bad as you think it’s going to be [losing a loved one] and there’s a huge amount of love that comes your way when you lose someone that you didn’t really expect.
‘I’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of love.’
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‘Shane will outlive everybody’