Dita Von Teese claims George Michael wanted to make music with Amy Winehouse.
Dita Von Teese performed with George Michael during his 25 Live Tour in 2008
The 53-year-old vedette was pals with the late legends, and when Dita performed a striptease/burlesque act in George’s 25 Live Tour in 2008, for the song Feelin’ Good, he kept quizzing her about Amy.
Dita exclusively told BANG Showbiz: “I remember he had asked me about Amy. He was like, ‘You know Amy.’ And I know he wanted to be connected with her about doing something, which would’ve been a dream. I don’t believe that ever happened.
“I miss that we don’t have any George Michael and Amy Winehouse music.”
Amy died from accidental alcohol poisoning at the age of 27 in July 2011.
George, meanwhile, passed away from dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis – inflammation of the heart muscle – and fatty liver disease, aged 53 on Christmas Day in 2016.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Careless Whisper hitmaker’s death, and Dita feels lucky to have been able to have worked with George and got to know the Wham! frontman.
The Queen of Burlesque said: “He was my favourite artist of all time – genuinely and honestly, I have to say. He and Amy Winehouse were both my favourite singers. And I was lucky enough to be friends with both of them.
“I performed for the visuals of his last tours. I think they used them for a few tours. I even watched the show once with his father.
“I have a great picture of me, George’s dad, and I think I have a picture of me, George and his dad. It looks like a dream come true.
“I look like a giddy schoolgirl in all of the photos that I have with George because he was my favourite artist of all time. I know every word of every George Michael and Wham! song.
“I miss him all the time.”
Elsewhere, Dita is returning to the UK’s grand stages with her “most glambitious show yet”, Nocturnelle.
The “opulent and richly imaginative” production – inspired by the magicians of the 19th century – sees the her unveil an exquisite blend of old-Hollywood allure, theatrical magic, and the high-art “Stripscapes” Dita is known for.
And the star wants to keep raising the bar with each production she does to keep it enjoyable.
Dita – who began performing burlesque in 1992, aged 20, and helped to re-popularise the theatrical art form – said: “It makes it more fun for me.
“I just want to do things that are exciting for me and show people new ideas, because I think with regard to what I do, sometimes maybe people think that I’m just imitating burlesque from the past.
“And the truth is, for the last 25 years, we’ve been innovating and creating things that were never in burlesque in the olden days. And so I just think about that a lot.”
She added: “When I create things for my show, I’m not looking at what’s out there. I’m looking at what we can make that’s new.
“It’s just exciting for me to do that.”
The 12-date UK tour of Nocturnelle will see Dita visit Manchester, London, Birmingham, Stockton and Edinburgh across January and February, and due to demand, a fourth show has been added at the London Palladium on Sunday, February 1.
Visit myticket.co.uk to purchase tickets.
Nocturnelle tour dates:
January:
Monday, 26 – Manchester O2 Apollo
Tuesday, 27 – Manchester O2 Apollo
Thursday, 29 – London Palladium
Friday, 30 – London Palladium
Saturday, 31 – London Palladium
February:
Sunday, 01 – London Palladium EXTRA DATE
Wednesday, 04 – Birmingham The Alexandra
Thursday, 05 – Birmingham The Alexandra
Friday, 06 – Birminham The Alexandra
Wednesday, 11 – Stockton Globe
Friday, 13 – Edinburgh Playhouse
Saturday, 14 – Edinburgh Playhouse
