Gay 90s music star opens up about how he ended up smoking crack in a skip

Gay pop idol Anthony Kavanagh, better-known as Kavana, has revealed how he once smoked crack in a skip.

Nineties floppy-haired star Kavana came out as gay in February 2014, admitting that he was “almost embarrassed” it had taken him so long to do so. Now, in a new interview with The Guardian, the singer has spoken about the twists and turns his life took after he was fired by his record label. 

Despite everything, “I’ve always somehow been able to find the humour, even at some of the darker times,” he said.

Reflecting on his most troubling moments, in his new memoir Pop Scars, the singer said he was once paid for sex he couldn’t remember, and ended up smoking crack in a skip with a homeless woman he had just met. He even trusted her with his bank card details to buy more drugs. 

Research has shown that LGBTQ+ people are disproportionately affected by alcoholism and alcohol dependency. Queer adults are also more likely than their straight peers to suffer with mental-health conditions or substance abuse.

Talking about his lifetime ban from TV show Loose Women, in the wake of an “unhinged” appearance, the “I Can Make You Feel Good” singer went on to say writing the book had given him back the self-esteem he’d been lacking for a long time.

“Alcohol became as important to me as oxygen,” he said. “That sounds quite melodramatic to somebody that has never experienced that. I wanted to stop, but I physically couldn’t.

“I have a bit of empathy for the young me because, although I was driven, ambitious and smart, I was also very naive.”

He also spoke about his struggles with body image and his fear of being outed at a time when most of his fans were teenage girls.

“There was fear in general, regardless of being a pop star. I hadn’t told my parents. I didn’t tell my sister till I was 18. It was a different age then,” he explained. 

Hiding his sexuality was ‘exhausting’

Speaking about sharing glances with other men while on tours, he added: “You’d have a little feeling but I dared not say anything, in case [they] told somebody else.”

Keeping his sexuality hidden was difficult and “where alcohol came in as a comfort”, but he did spend a night with another then closeted gay singer, and prescription-drug addict: Boyzone star Stephen Gately, who came out in 1999 but died in 2009.

He was also friends with singer Amy Winehouse, who had her own addiction issues. 

“It’s crazy when I look back now, the time we were in. It was a constant act and it was exhausting. But you just got on with it. I was so lucky for this to happen to me, and I must be grateful.”

Kavana appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2015 and has been sober for three years, but believes even today there isn’t much help for young celebrities.

Pop Scars is out now.

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