A look at Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael's relationship as Wham! documentary premieres on Netflix

The documentary about 80s pop band Wham! premiered on Netflix on Wednesday. It looks at the band's rise to fame with former member Andrew Ridgeley opening up about his relationship with the late George Michael. 

The documentary details how Andrew and George first met at Hertfordshire’s Bushey Meads School when they were 12 and 11, from that day they were essentially joined at the hip. 

They started a five-piece ska band named ‘The Executive’ but soon moved away from the idea after it ‘fizzled out’. Andrew and George formed Wham! in 1981 and took their double act on tour when they were just 18. It was the duo’s performance on Top of The Pops 1982 that propelled them into superstardom. 

They were one of the most prolific music duo’s of the eighties with hits such as Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, I’m Your Man and Last Christmas. They had worldwide success and sell-out tours but at the height of their career the pair split after five years in 1986. So what went wrong? 

Andrew explained the band's split was not a breakup but rather “a close in a manner of our own choosing". The popstar recognised he wasn’t quite in the same league as his band member and he never understood the band's success. 

Andrew said "I could never quite really get that we had achieved the same kind of success as the artists that we revered like gods when we were growing up. We were playing Wembley Stadium, the same place Elton John played. You can say, 'I am the same'. But in your own mind, you’re never the same."

It was during the making of the music video ‘Club Tropicana’ that George came out to Andrew. He said “It didn’t have any bearing on our relationship, but we thought it was best not to tell his Dad.” 

Despite what many people believe, which is that the pair had a bitter falling out and that was why the band split, George went on to have musical success whilst Andrew’s music career failed with him stepping away from fame. But Andrew and George were still close friends until George’s untimely death in 2016 and he was among the guests who attended the singer's funeral in London. 

Speaking to The Big Issue after George's death, Andrew explained: "It might be difficult for people to believe I was never envious of 'Yog' (George's nickname at school), but I just didn’t feel that way."

"It’s not a factor of my personality. I was thrilled to pieces with his development into the artist that he became. He was my best friend. It is so alien and bizarre to me that anyone would feel otherwise."

Wham! Documentary is available to watch on Netflix from 5 July