Rick Astley reveals he dumped his ex-girlfriend after his rise to fame

Rick Astley has revealed he brutally dumped his ex-girlfriend and childhood sweetheart, two years after his track Never Gonna Give You Up became a hit.

The music legend, 58, has confessed he's 'ashamed' that he ended his relationship with his ex after seven years ago by writing her a letter, after falling for his now-wife Lene Bausager.

Despite the challenging origins of his relationship, Rick said that after 35 years with Lene, he has no regrets, as he fell in love with Lene 'the moment he met her,' while on a promotional tour in Denmark.

Speaking to The Mirror ahead of the release of his new autobiography Never, Rick said that when he and Lene met, he was in a relationship with a woman he refers to as Debbie Smith.

After their first meeting in 1987, Rick and Lene crossed paths again two years later, and proceeded to spend three months speaking on the phone and writing letters to one another.

Rick explained: 'I had to grab at that surely, rather than stick with the life I knew wasn't right. But that still left the question of what I was going to do, how I was going to tell Debbie. 

'So I did something I've felt ashamed about ever since. I wrote her a letter and left it in the house.' 

'I can't remember what it said – to be honest, writing it felt like having an out-of-body experience or something, as if it wasn't really happening to me, or I couldn't quite believe I was doing it.'

Explaining he never heard from her again, Rick branded his behaviour 'weak and disrespectful,' and said that at while he was just 22 at the time he 'should have dealt with it better.

He went onto detail that he reunited with Lene in Copenhagen, and moved into her flat, and they've been together ever since.

However, Rick went onto share that it hasn't been smooth sailing, as he and Lene sought couples therapy when his career stalled, and they began to drift from one another in the 1990s, but they've overcome their struggles.

Lene is now Rick's manager, and his career has seen a huge resurgence through performances with Blossoms and Dave Grohl, and a lauded performance at the Glastonbury Festival. 

He said last year that he had wanted to be a hands-on father for his daughter Emilie, now 32, after experiencing such a traumatic childhood.

He added that he had such a difficult time growing up that he has spent years going in and out of therapy.

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The singer revealed that at the time his father died, several years ago, he hadn't spoken to him for more than 25 years. 

He added: 'He was such a complicated person and, when my daughter was born, I decided I didn't want that complication in her life. Yes, he could come and stay and be great. 

'Or 50 per cent of the time he'd be great, but then he'd be the darkest person in the world. I'm sure people who have complicated relationships with a parent will understand.'

His parents had divorced when he was six, and when they died, he revealed, 'they hadn't spoken a word to each other for 50 years'.