George Michael & Kenny's love story - addiction, other lovers and row over will (2024)

George Michael and Kenny Goss were the loves of each other's lives but split in 2009 after reportedly struggling to overcome their mutual issues with addiction

Devastated by the death of boyfriend Anselmo Feleppa from AIDS in 1993, George Michael couldn't even think about meeting anyone else for the next three years.

But all that changed when he locked eyes with Texan art dealer Kenny Goss at a posh spa in Los Angeles in 1996. George asked him out to dinner, but wasn't even sure he was gay until their third date.

Things moved quickly and the couple split their lives between Los Angeles, St Tropez, George's home in Goring-on-Thames and Kenny's luxe pad in Dallas.

And while George was determined to keep his new relationship a secret from the public, he excitedly called his mum - only to learn in that same phone call that she had breast cancer. She died the following year aged just 60.

Both came with their demons - for Kenny it was booze, for George it was drugs - and without his mum there, Kenny said George quickly spiralled.

"His mother kept him in check in a lot of ways. There were things he didn't want his mother to see, certain things, lifestyle things," he previously told The Sun.

"When she wasn't there he did what he wanted, he didn't care anymore. His drug use escalated after she passed away too."

In 1998 George was arrested for performing a 'lewd' act in a public toilet in Los Angeles, prompting him to confirm his sexuality - and relationship with Kenny - to the world.

But while they were emotionally monogamous, they agreed to have a physically open relationship, with George often regaling Kenny with his tales of sex with other men on London's Hampstead Heath.

In an interview with Attitude magazine, George told how he and Kenny vowed to be monogamous at the start of their relationship, but admitted his eyes started wandering, forcing him to come clean with his understanding partner.

"With Kenny, well, as a gay man, you keep hold of monogamy for as long as you can - because, sure, it's a great way to be, but then you either turn into liars and cheats or you deal with it full on and work though it and come to whatever arrangement you come to," he explained.

"There is so much security in knowing it doesn't matter how many times your boyfriend has slept with other people or that you have slept with other people, no-one's going anywhere."

The couple stayed together for 15 years, arguing about silly things like who has the remote control while grappling with much bigger problems.

It is said to have been their demons that eventually tore them apart. At one point, Kenny said a psychiatrist encouraged them to stay together for George's sake.

"I asked him if I should leave George and he looked me in the eye and said, 'I think you are the only reason George stays alive,'" Kenny said of his true love.

But in 2009 they parted ways. Kenny got sober and George spent 18 months in rehab at the Kusnacht Practice in Switzerland.

They remained close friends and would refer to each other as 'soulmates'.

When they split, George said: "I love him very much. This man has brought me a lot of joy and pain.

"My love life has been a lot more ­turbulent than I've ever let on, and I'm so sad about my relationship with Kenny. I'm sorry for any pain."

And in 2022, Kenny told how he had always lived in fear of George's death.

"We all expected him to die. I had spent so much time when we lived together, being worried about him," he told Piers Morgan.

"Honestly, he hated the fact that I worried about him so much.

"What's the line he says in one of his songs? He says, 'I can see it in your eyes when you look at me that way, it tears me in two.' And it really did. I just didn't know what to do."

Kenny added: "What I always do notice, is there was a lot longer time that I was incredibly happy with him than I was worried with him.

"He always said that I saved his life. I think that's a bit much but I really did try."

Even towards the end, Kenny was in 'constant contact' with his ex, who he described as being in 'good spirits'.

He previously told The Mirror: "I was speaking to him all the time on the phone. We were together for 15 years and in the gay world that is a long time.

"People used to say we ­argued but we wouldn't really. When we split up there was no big argument, it was just how it was. It was a lovely relationship. I miss him."

Speaking about George's downward spiral towards his death, Kenny said that he had had enough of being labelled as "long suffering".

He told Dallas Morning News: "We just had a really good, sweet relationship. We weren't even mad at each other or anything like that. He was truly the love of my life. And I think I was the love of his life."

Meanwhile, things didn't remain so peaceful between Kenny and his ex-love's family in the wake of his death.

Having been left out of George's will, Kenny sued the family under the Inheritance (Provisions for Family and Dependents) Act 1975, which allows those who were financially dependent on someone in life to claim from their estate even if they are cut out of the will.

He reportedly argued that he gave up his career to look after the star while together and wanted at least £15,000 a month from the late star's £98million fortune.

Sources close to him said he was "effectively a stay-at-home husband" almost entirely supported financially by George.

George's family were said to be furious with the claim, but eventually agreed a settlement to end the battle without a public court fight.

Documents filed at the High Court said the case has been settled on a 'confidential' basis – with all sides paying their own lawyers' costs.

George's then-partner Fadi Fawaz, who found him dead in bed, and former Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley were also excluded from the will.