Who is George Michael’s cousin and former ‘best friend’ Andros Georgiou?

As Channel 4 airs its new documentary, George Michael: Outed, many people will want to know more about Andros Georgiou, the singer’s cousin and former friend.

The two-hour, two-part documentary, which airs on Monday and Tuesday (6 and 7 March) in the UK, tells the story of the harrowing tabloid intrusion that followed George’s 1998 arrest for engaging in a “lewd act” in a public toilet in Beverly Hills.

Georgiou adds his own insights in the documentary, which also covers the extent of journalists’ desperation to cover George’s sexuality and HIV status. 

Who is Andros Georgiou? 

Georgiou was Michael’s second cousin, who has also forged a career for himself in the music industry. 

Throughout many years in the industry, he has signed acts to labels including his own Hardback Records, which he formed in 1986, and as president of Michael’s Aegean Label, according to his website. 

Andros claims to have been a major influence in Michael’s career and his website states that music is “simply his life”. 

Was Andros Georgiou close to George Michael? 

Georgiou and Michael are often referred to by the press as “best friends”, despite being second cousins.

In an interview with the Mirror in 2020, Andros opened up about George’s shocking death on Christmas Day in 2016, at the age of 53.

He explained how George’s song “Jesus to a Child” was a tribute to his former lover Anselmo Feleppa, a Brazilian dress designer who died in 1993, aged 33, just a year into their relationship. 

When George’s mum, Lesley Angold, died four years later in 1997, the former Wham! singer was left “spiritually crushed”, according to Andros. 

With George’s sister, Melanie, also dying on Christmas Day – in 2019 – after falling into a diabetic coma as a result of diabetic ketoacidosis, Christmas is now a time Andros hates, saying “it’s an awful time”.

Throughout their youth, Andros spent the majority of his time touring with George, who was the same age as him.

Their families spent Christmas together and George was godfather to Andros’ son James Kennedy, who is now a reality TV star in the US, where he is best-known for appearing on Vanderpump Rules. 

But Andros said the pair fell out a decade before George’s death, meaning he didn’t “get to say goodbye”. 

What has Andros Georgiou said about George Michael: Outed? 

During an interview with This Morning presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on Monday (6 March), Andros gave an insight into his relationship with George. 

He revealed that their fathers grew up together in a little village in Cyprus. 

Reflecting on George’s arrest, Andros said the superstar “seemed perfectly fine” once he arrived at his house. 

Andros explained that while George’s private life should have been just that, he felt his cousin handled coming out publically in an “incredible” way. 

“We always had a love-hate relationship with the press. His way of dealing with it was to try [to] take the steam out of what they could report and how they would do it,” Andros said.

In 1998, George walked into CNN to take control of his own story, talking openly about his sexuality, so paving the way for others to come out. 

“He was one of the greatest British singer-songwriters we’ve ever had,” Andros said, adding that George was happiest when with “the love of his life”, Feleppa. 

George Michael: Outed airs at 9pm on 6 and 7 March on Channel 4 in the UK.