How did Mick Hucknall simply bed so many women? What happened to the unlikely top lothario of the 90s who boasted of 'three lovers every day' despite being 'not a very good-looking guy'

Daily Mail​

24-05-2025

He was perhaps the most unlikely lothario of the 1990s, after growing up 'feeling ugly' and being mocked for his distinctive red hair.
Yet Simply Red frontman Mick Hucknall's roster of exes reads like a who's who of some of the world's most beautiful women, including a relationship with Catherine Zeta-Jones in 1998, a short-lived romance with Ulrika Jonsson and liaisons with model Helena Christensen, Melanie Sykes, Lady Victoria Hervey, and Steffi Graf.
Another of his notable romances was with former ' EastEnders ' actress Martine McCutcheon, who claims that the pair went on a disastrous date in 1996 that ended with her vomiting in his dreadlocks - a story Mick has furiously denied as a 'sad little fantasy'.
Meanwhile, one of his would-be conquests Brigitte Nilsen somewhat unkindly described the singer as 'not a very good-looking guy', but hinted at what so many women saw in him, saying he was 'outrageous, friendly and really cool'.
Given his very colourful past, it's perhaps no wonder that his new concert film has been slapped with a trigger warning about 'sexual' content because of lyrics about sex and drinking, with the singer previously admitting to his fondness for booze - as well as trying 'every drug'.
Now a reformed hellraise. he lives with his wife Gabriella Wesberry, who he married at Forter Castle in Perthshire, Scotland, in 2005, and their 17-year-old daughter Romy True.
While discussing his love life in 2010, Mick famously said: 'Between 1985 - 1987, I would sleep with about three women a day, every day.
'I never said no. This was what I wanted from being a pop star. I was living the dream and my only regret is that I hurt some really good girls.'
A documentary in 2004, entitled Is She Really Going Out With Him? added to the speculation after it claimed that the singer had slept with more than 3,000 women.
Then in 2006, when asked by the Daily Mail whether reports about his trysts was true, Mick said: 'No, I'm guilty. It's life's experience. I think it's searching for approval. Love me, admire me - something like that.
'In most cases, though, it usually had to do with being drunk. You go into any city centre on a Friday or Saturday night and you see it going on all over the world.
'There's nothing particularly unusual about it but because of being famous it gets reported, it gets blown up. Ultimately, it doesn't make you happy.'
However in 2012 he tried to correct the figure, telling the Irish Independent: 'If you actually take a look at what I said in the infamous interview and what the editor introduced, you can see that they are slightly different.
'I didn't apologise to 3,000 women. The 3,000 wasn't my figure. That was the editor's figure.'
And in 2019, Mick again denied the claim, saying that the interview where he revealed the amount of women he had bed, was taken 'wildly out of context'
Speaking candidly to Rob McGibbon for The Sunday Times, the singer revealed that when he said: 'In the crazy days, it was screaming girls everywhere and it felt like you were sleeping with three women a day,' - that it wasn't a literal number.'
However, the singer, did admit to living a playboy lifestyle when his career was at its peak, which involved 'a lot of' alcohol and drugs.
He went on to say in the frank interview that his past confessions were 'conflated'.
But when asked what the real number was, he said: 'I have no idea. I don't put chips on the bedposts.
'I haven't a clue and have never thought about calculating.'
One conquest that did not come to pass was his attempt at wooing Brigitte Nielsen who he invited to have a bath with him when she ended up back at his flat in Manchester at 3am.
'He lit more candles in his purple bathroom, put some music on, then we were in the water,' she recalled in her autobiography.
While she did take a dip with the hitmaker, things went no further.
'Now Mick is many things but one thing he's not is a very good-looking guy. However what he does have is this expression of someone who knows he's totally outrageous and yet very friendly, really cool,' she said.
'So I was just winging it and there we were, taking a bath together. We talked about ourselves and nothing happened. To be honest, even if you'd paid me I couldn't have gone to bed with the guy.'
During an apperance on Loose Women, Martin McCutcheon also had warm words for the star, saying he was a 'gentleman' when they dated back in 1996, especially after an embarassing incident when she was sick in his dreadlock on the way home from a night out.
'He had the dreadlocks in and the dreadlocks flicked everywhere like that. Not long after that, he had to cut his dreadlocks off,' she said.
According to the former EastEnders star they continued to see each other after the incident and remained friends, but Mick was so furious by her claims, which she made on an episode of Loose Women, he took to X to give his side of the story.
Accusing Martine of 'dining out on a lie', the singer wrote: 'You vomited all over my driver's car, not my hair. He was furious.
'You were so paralytic we had to put you to bed. As he will attest to. It's a cheap, face-saving story.
'So pls desist, show a little grace. You embarrass yourself with your sad little fantasy.'
The story is not the only element of Mick's past that has been called into question with the singer giving varying accounts as to the true level of his philandering.
His Lothario image made its way back into the limelight this week after it was reported Simply Red's new concert film comes with a few warnings from the British Board of Classification, despite being rated a U, meaning it's suitable for everyone.
The recording of a live concert in Chile in March 2025, which is hitting screens on Thursday, celebrates 40 years of hits from the soul and pop band fronted by singer-songwriter Mick.
According to The Sun, viewers have been warned about the lyrics that reference 'making love and sexual attraction'.
The BBFC warns: 'Song lyrics occasionally make brief, undetailed verbal references to 'making love' and to sexual attraction.
'There is infrequent very mild bad language ('damn') and people are briefly shown drinking alcohol.'
The new film, which is being released to celebrate the iconic Manchester band's 40th anniversary, showcases spectacular performance from their recent tour in Santiago, Chile.
The movie's description reads: 'Holding Back The Years: 40 Years of Simply Red – Live from Santiago' captures the band's electrifying performance at the Movistar Arena in Chile, where they played five consecutive sold-out shows to rapturous audiences as part of their Latin American tour leg, which saw them perform to over 140,000 fans.
'This special cinema event will give fans the opportunity to experience the energy and emotion of Simply Red's 40th Anniversary Tour on the big screen.