EVERY Sunday night millions are watching Andy Bell being reborn as an opera singer.
A whole new generation is now getting to know and love the Erasure star thanks to ITV1’s hit show Popstar to Operastar.
But his growing band of fans don’t realise the challenge Andy faces on a daily basis since being diagnosed HIV positive 13 years ago – and the double hip replacement he had in 2004.
One of the first pop stars to come out as gay, Andy was also one of the first to reveal he was HIV positive. And he did so at a time when Aids was still misunderstood and the source of fear and prejudice.
But the 47-year-old’s rude good health and matter-of-fact approach to talking about living with HIV are an inspiration to other sufferers and an education to those who still think of it as a death sentence.
Andy, who with Erasure bandmate Vince Clarke, achieved 24 consecutive Top 20 hits including Sometimes and A Little Respect, says: “Of course, it wasn’t very nice when I found out that I was HIV positive, but I’ve never been a person to have secrets about things.
STIGMA
“I wanted to be open about it and hopefully it would help somebody else not feel so bad about it.
“There was certainly still a lot of stigma about it back in those days, but I didn’t personally face any hostility about it.
“It is the same as any kind of medical condition – it’s a very personal thing.
“I can understand now why people who have cancer might want to keep it private – you don’t want to share it with the world.
“Revealing you have HIV is a big responsibility. Once you’ve said it, you have to show you are living well and getting on with your life.
“You are more susceptible to things like colds so you have to be really, really careful. But it is something you learn to manage over the years.”
Andy found out he was HIV positive in June 1998 when he developed a bout of pneumonia while he was on holiday in Majorca.
He said recently: “I think that I kind of knew. I had been a bit self-destructive for a while and it seemed to be a part of that.”
He immediately began combination drug therapy and, while some sufferers have to try several different drugs to get the right mix for them, Andy was lucky to find the right ones early.
“After taking them for a month I felt completely normal,” he said.
He went public on his condition in 2004 after a website began spreading rumours about his health.
He said then: “I’m feeling fine – in fact I’ve never felt better. Being HIV does not mean that you have Aids. My life expectancy should be the same as anyone else’s so there’s no need to panic.
“Let’s get on with life.”
For Andy though, there was another major health problem just around the corner.
Soon afterwards he had a double hip replacement because of avascular necrosis, a condition where the blood supply to the bones dries up.
“It can be from cocaine use,” he said. “There is not much history of it from HIV. I was walking around like a monkey because the skeletal support goes – I was having to hold on to things. But I went to see the Queen Mum’s surgeon and although it took a while to walk I did great.”
In 2006 Andy told pop channel MTV how he told his family about his condition two years before going public.
He said: “I didn’t have trouble telling my family at all, but it’s almost like a second coming-out.”
Andy then went on to raise money for Aids education and research with a series of benefit concerts.
Erasure are still going strong 26 years after their first release, Who Needs Love Like That. And, after finding success the hard way, Andy has very little time for reality shows which provide a short cut to fame. He says: “I can’t really watch The X Factor. The very concept of overnight success doesn’t exist.”
Since joining Popstar to Operastar, Andy has relished the chance to mentor a singer who’s been chewed up and spat out by the X Factor machine.
Joe McElderry was just 18 years old when he won the show – and 16 months later he was dumped by Simon Cowell’s label Syco.
“I think its a real shame,” says Andy. “Young performers are not schooled in how to deal with being dropped like that. They are sold this dream and are not really prepared for the reality of what happens afterwards.
“When you’re in a band you have to go out and keep doing tours and live shows all the time and build up a following. That’s how we’ve done it – by putting in really, really hard graft.
“Joe is a really sweet kid. He’s very young and gets slightly distracted by everything going on. But he’s so well known he has people saying ‘hi’ to him all the time. It reminds me what it was like a little when we started.
“I think Joe is doing really well, he has got a lovely voice.
“He’s got his family with him. I’ve spoken to his mum and dad a lot and they just say how weird it was going from him not being famous one minute to having hundreds of fans the next.”
Andy’s musical partner Vince has been supporting him in the audience since Popstar to Operastar began.
A stalwart of the 80s synthpop music scene, he started out in Depeche Mode, moved to Yazoo before forming Erasure with Andy in 1985. And, remarkably, in a quarter of a century touring the world, they have rarely had cross words.
“Vince and I have very similar views,” says Andy. “We never have arguments, not ever.
“Well, actually, the only time was when I went on stage once and said ‘Oi!’ to him because he had started the music too early. Vince just turned round and said to me, ‘Don’t ever speak to me like that again’. And I didn’t.
“Honestly, that happened in 1996 and in the whole time that is the only row we have had.”
As we speak, Vince walks into the dressing room. So what’s the secret of this great relationship, Vince?
“I’m a bully,” he replies.
“I’m scared of him,” laughs Andy.
Whatever the truth, Andy is the consummate pop showman..... and now he’s putting on a pretty good turn as an opera diva.
Popstar to Operastar, ITV1 tomorrow, 8pm and 10pm.
