Andrew Ridgeley; what happened to the former WHAM! member ahead of new Netflix documentary about the group?

He has been somewhat of a punchline when it comes to members not achieving the level of success compared to other band members in popular music groups. But a new Netflix documentary highlighting the life and times of George Michael’s pre-solo activities as a member of Wham! is set to give never before behind-the-scenes footage of the duo and once again sheds a light on the sometimes forgotten member of the group - Andrew Ridgeley.

“Wham!” is set to follow the band from “[...]1982, [when] the best of friends and still teenagers – George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley as Wham! set out to conquer the world. By June of 1986 they played their very last gig at Wembley Stadium having done exactly that,” the press release divulges regarding the documentary. “Now for the very first time, told in their own words, the amazing story of how in four years they dominated the charts around the world with timeless and classic pop songs.”

While the life and times of George Michael has been celebrated continuously, leading to a rumoured biopic that at one stage had The White Lotus’ Theo James tagged as playing the lead, the life and times of Andrew Ridgeley have not been as heralded as much - leading to the rather mean insinuations at times that Ridgeley was the proverbial weak link in the group. He was tabloid fodder throughout the ‘80s, most notably portrayed as a drunken party animal at nightclubs, earning the nickname "Animal Andy" and "Randy Andy" and allegedly ordered to leave the official party at the end of the Live Aid concert in 1985 for his wild behaviour.

Despite trying to recreate the success his best friend George Michael had with his solo career, the same fortune did not befall Ridgeley - “Son of Albert,” released in 1990, received at best lukewarm reviews and an even lukewarmer response in the album and singles charts. That led to Ridgeley seemingly disappearing out of the spotlight (and not so much relevancy - another barb the former member had to contend with) to live a relatively quiet life compared to the universal success his friend was achieving throughout the decade.

Ridgeley then tried his hand at a few other jobs away from music, however his first opportunity was not too far removed from the entertainment world. In the ‘90s, Ridgeley tried his hand at acting, bt nothing earth-shaking with IMDB not included any of his alleged appearances on Hale and Pace’s primetime sketch series. His acting career has almost as much success as his budding Formula Three career he attempted after moving to Monaco post Wham! 

After the self-confessed “beating” he took regarding his solo album, Ridgeley mainly tried to stay out of the public spotlight; with good reason also as the vast majority of his fortune comes from the royalties earned through Wham! Songs, including his co-writing (contentious might we add) credit for “Careless Whisper,” which only earlier this year amassed an impressive billion views on YouTube. We can also bet our bottom dollar that when Christmas comes around each year, those royalty checks get a little fatter given the ubiquity that "Last Christmas" has on playlists and radio rotation during the festive season.

He was also in a long-term relationship with former Bananarama member Keren Woodward, with the two first dating in 1990 and having a son together, moving to a restored 15th-century farm property near Wadebridge, Cornwall, England. However by 2017, the relationship was over, though in recent years he has been spotted with socialite Amanda Cronin.

In 2019, Ridgeley published a book called "Wham!: George & Me," which chronicled his experiences as part of the band and his close friendship with George Michael, his former bandmate, who passed away in 2016. But in recent years, Ridgeley has made occasional public appearances, including attending a tribute concert for George Michael in 2017 and participating in a charity bike ride for the Childline organisation in 2018.

So despite the barbs he has taken throughout the decades, the relatively quiet life of Andrew Ridgeley will once again be thrust into the spotlight - will there be more points of contention leading up to the release of the Netflix documentary just how much Ridgeley contributed to the successful pop act? Or will he even care given that the royalty checks keep rolling in monthly through the huge success he was involved in during the ‘80s?

When is the "Wham!" documentary released on Netflix?

"Wham!" is set to be released on Netflix from July 5 2023, and the streaming service have released a new trailer in the short few weeks lead up to the highly anticipated work.