Troubled Caroline Aherne attacked me with knives, bottles and chairs her rocker ex-husband Peter Hook claims
MRS MERTON star Caroline Aherne attacked husband Peter Hook with knives, bottles and chairs during their "abusive" marriage, the rocker claims.
In a bombshell new book bass player Hook accuses the much-loved TV favourite of subjecting him to long-term emotional and physical abuse.
Royle Family and Mrs Merton star Caroline died in July after a third battle with cancer, while Hook was working on a new autobiography.
Thousands of fans paid tribute to the actress and writer, with fellow showbiz performers labelling her one of Britain’s greatest-ever comedy talents.
But writing of his shock at her untimely death at the age of 52 - the musician says he “couldn’t in all good conscience” join those paying tribute to her.
In a chapter of his book which deals with his marriage to Aherne, Hook writes: “Yes I loved her, yes she could be very funny, and there were times I felt privileged to have a private audience with such a great comic talent. But she was also a very troubled person and nowhere did that manifest itself more than in our relationship.”
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He writes that she tried to “brainwash” him with negative comments, which progressed to physical attacks on him. He describes his torment in searing detail, which led to his descent into clinical depression as he became an “abused husband”.
Describing the start of the violent incidents, Hook writes: “She attacked me, using her nails to scratch at my neck, tearing off my necklace and ripping my top. It was proper shocking stuff.
"And although she was really contrite the next morning it marked the beginning of some serious screaming-banshee behaviour - putting cigarettes out on my arm, attacking me with bottles, knives, chairs and other assorted furniture."
It would be set off by the slightest thing - talking or looking at another woman was a favourite.”
He recalled that she slapped him around the face in the middle of the British Comedy Awards aftershow party in front of “30 assorted comedians” and in another incident took scissors to his possessions, including photographs of his children.
He writes: “I was an abused husband and it’s embarrassing, and you feel ashamed, and you can’t tell anyone. I needed help.”
The relationship came to an end after “the worst argument ever”, in which Hook said he feared she was going to stab him after throwing assorted household items at him.
The following morning she left their marital home in Manchester with Hook writing that she said: “I’m leaving, I’m going to kill you if I don’t.”
The pair met at Manchester’s iconic Hacienda club before marrying in Las Vegas in 1994. They divorced after three years.
The chapter on life with Aherne, entitled “Marry in haste, repent at leisure”, appears in the book Substance, which also deals with Hook's music career and associations with Factory Records and the Hacienda, as well as a comprehensive account of his years with the band New Order.
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