Helena Christensen and INXS singer Michael Hutchence in Paris, circa 1992. (ARNAL/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
For the first time in two decades, Helena Christensen is coming forward about her relationship with Michael Hutchence for a new documentary.
The frontman of the Australian group INXS was found dead in 1997 in his hotel room in the Ritz Carlton in Double Day, a suburb of Sydney, at age 37. The cause was suicide by hanging.
The BBC Two documentary "Mystify: Michael Hutchence," which premiered last week at the Tribeca Film Festival, is a portrayal of the late singer, with interviews with surviving members of the band, Hutchence’s siblings, his stepmother, as well as friends Kylie Minogue and Bono, among others.
Christensen claimed Hutchence’s personality quickly changed after the injury, developing a “dark and very angry” side of himself.
Christensen, who dated Hutchence for four years, participated in the film and described him as her “perfect match” and their connection as “joyful, sweet, deep and emotional,” as reported by Marie Claire.
“[It was] total mental and physical chemistry,” the Danish supermodel recalled.
According to the magazine, the now 50-year-old first started dating Hutchence following his split from Minogue. But during their courtship in 1992, Hutchence suffered severe injuries after being assaulted by a taxi driver, causing his head to hit the curb.
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“He was unconscious and there was blood coming out of his mouth and ear,” said Christensen. “I thought he was dead… We got to the hospital and he woke up and he was aggressive. They were trying to make him stay but he was physically pushing them away.”
Christensen claimed Hutchence’s personality quickly changed after the injury, developing a “dark and very angry” side of himself. The singer was also devastated by losing his sense of touch and taste.
“Something drastic happened,” Christensen admitted. “I was deeply sad, confused and bewildered, but at the same time it couldn’t have continued that way.”
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Christensen tried to stay by Hutchence’s side, but his mood swings ultimately became too much to cope with. After the couple split in 1995, Hutchence began dating British TV host Paula Yates, which became a hot tabloid topic in England. The couple shared a daughter.
Back in late 2018, Hutchence’s sister Tina Hutchence told The Guardian her sibling's traumatic brain injury was caused by a fractured skull — an incident that would take him on a downward spiral.
“While he lost his sense of smell and taste, I don’t believe he was told much else about what could happen,” Tina said at the time. “He was put on Prozac and told he’d get through the headaches. But there has been so much written about TBIs [traumatic brain injury] in the US over the last five years, looking at football players and boxers. It made sense to me the most I read because Michael’s personality changed dramatically.”
Michael Hutchence of INXS, studio portrait, London, 1990. — Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images
Tina claimed that despite her brother’s mental health deteriorating, Hutchence still had to keep busy. At the time of his death, the Associated Press reported Hutchence was in Sydney preparing for INXS’s 20th-anniversary tour to promote the band’s 10th album, titled “Elegantly Wasted.”
According to Tina, the pressure to stay on stage no doubt had a fatal impact on her beloved brother.
“’Let’s push on,’” said Tina. “Doesn’t matter if he’s forgetting his own lyrics. That was very upsetting. I found out more in reading some of the statements to the police. The fact that the manager wrote Michael a letter saying she was very worried about him, and what can they do? Well, obviously the thing to do is call off the tour that he didn’t want to be on, but they didn’t — it was on with the show.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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