Amy Winehouse drank less than many other women her age, her boyfriend has claimed.
The British singer passed away in her London home in July aged 27. No drugs were in her system at the time, although her cause of death hasn't been confirmed yet. An inquest is due to open tomorrow, which is expected to determine how she died.
The star had battled drink and drugs in the past. It was speculated this caused her passing, although her family believe she suffered a fatal seizure brought on by alcohol withdrawal.
Her partner Reg Traviss has insisted Amy didn't drink as much as many think.
"She had been involved with drugs long before we were together. That was way in the past, that was not a bit of her life. You couldn't put her in a room with drugs, it just wasn't her world anymore. She had nothing to do with drugs, had no interest in drugs, all that was in the past," he told British newspaper The Daily Mirror.
"The drinking as well, it wasn't any more than a lot of people her age. I know girls of 27 who work in the city and they drink more than she drank. They binge-drink three or four nights a week. But she had all that within her control. What happened was a reaction to the abuse she had put her body through a few years ago."
Alcohol was thought to be behind the star's death as in June she appeared drunk on stage in Belgrade. Her performance was so bad she was booed off and the rest of the planned shows were cancelled.
Reg insists that was a one-off incident.
"How many rock or pop stars have gone onstage after a few too many?" he said. "All right, it was five weeks earlier, but that was history as well. It wasn't like she was doing that every day right up until July 23."
Reg met Amy via mutual friends. They quickly became close although his job as a film director meant they had to spend large amounts of time apart.
He was in Scotland shooting Screwed shortly before she died, and admits it was a struggle to be away from her.
"It was tough leaving Amy for that amount of time… As a director you tend not to get much sleep. If it is a tough day you don't switch your phone on. Even when it's lunch you are having meetings and you work through and finish at eight at night. Then you have rushes to look at, then you eat, then it's too late to ring," he explained.
Reg is now helping Amy's father Mitch Winehouse set up a charity in her name.
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