He's the international DJ with an enviable A-list client list who famously played at the wedding of Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz, and Fat Tony has quite the summer ahead of him.
Along with his intimate boat brunches launching on the party isle of Ibiza in July and a fun DJ gig at the West Sussex dog event Goodwoof on 16-17 May, Tony is also releasing his new book, Recover Me: A User's Guide to Overcoming Addiction and Insanity, on 25 June.
The book is a sequel to his 2022 autobiography, I Don't Take Requests, in which Tony (full name Tony Marnach) recounted his life of extremes. The star, who rose to fame on London's club scene in the 1980s and counts the likes of Boy George and Kate Moss as friends, has spoken of his previous drug and alcohol addictions.
"After writing that book I did a lot of trauma therapy," he tells HELLO! in this exclusive interview. "I did a lot of work on myself, and this book is about that trauma therapy."
Here, he opens up about the cathartic process of writing his new book, and why dogs are the best therapy…
Tony, how is married life with your husband, the creative director Stavros Agapiou, since HELLO! covered your wedding last summer?
Married life's amazing. It's bizarre when things go from 'I' to 'us'—it's slowly changed from blossoming into something so amazing.
We have a good life because we make it a good life, and I think that's really important.
Don't get me wrong, we all have bad days, we all have bad weeks, that's life. It's about coming through that stuff.
Your new book Recover Me: A user's guide to overcoming addiction and insanity is out on 25th June – tell us about it
My new book is about overcoming trauma. This is a book about whatever's going on in your life, how to cope with it, and how to get through it.
It's a self-help book, but very different. It's funny stories but also very poignant stories, and how you've come through that stuff.
There's a lot of stuff which people don't write about, such as sex addiction and all the other addictions. It's not just about substance misuse; it's about misuse of anything—food, partners, everything—that will be helpful to a lot of people.
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Why did you decide to write it?
Book one (I Don't Take requests) changed my life because it was the first time I got really honest with anything, and whilst writing that book, a lot in my life changed.
That book enabled me to be in a position where I could get married and be with one person - all of these [things] that I never dreamt would ever happen to me because up to that point I always wanted to be liked. I never ever wanted to be loved, because you have to find out who I am to love me, and I didn't know who I was.
After writing that book I did a lot of trauma therapy, I did a lot of work on myself, and this book is about that trauma therapy.
I don't think people are honest in life when they come to writing books. This is probably even more honest than the last one.
That sounds like a very cathartic process…
Oh yeah, unreal. It was a life changing moment.
I've been in recovery for 20 years and in the last five since writing I Don't Take Requests I don't have skeletons; I don't have secrets.
DJ Fat Tony kept the dancefloor busy at HELLO!'s London launch party
Have you got a new lease of life?
A hundred per cent. I'm 60 and I feel 30. I never wake up feeling old. I never wake up feeling useless. I just keep going and life keeps getting better. I love it.
Pets are great therapy – do you find that with your two dogs?
You know what, we all need unconditional love in our lives.
There's one chapter in the new book where I actually just say, 'For fu**'s sake, shut up and get a dog!' Literally, that's how the chapter ends. Just get a dog.
DJ Fat Tony and his dog Reenie in an exclusive photoshoot for HELLO!
You're DJing at Goodwoof's Ministry of Hound dog disco – tell us more
For a dog lover, it really is the dream event. It's a weekend not about us - it's about them.
I'm on my sixth year at Goodwoof. I've done Ministry of Hounds and I've danced with thousands and thousands of dogs and their owners. It's just like pure happiness. if you're a dog lover, I highly recommend it.
Is Goodwoof one of your favourite gigs?
You know, for me it really is. Everyone always says, 'What's the best gig you've ever done?' I always say it's never happened yet. But with Goodwoof it's a whole different level because who doesn't want to DJ to dogs?! [The dogs] love it. I think what they buzz off is the energy.
Do you take your own dogs to Goodwoof?
We have two dogs and we take both of them. Raff is from Cyprus; he's a rescue dog. He's going to be seven this year, even though my husband hates me saying his age. He just wants us to be forever young. And we've got Reenie, who's just a little madam
We've stayed loads of times at the Goodwood Hotel. It's mental to go into a hotel where you walk past every room and it's got a dog barking in it!
You DJ in Ibiza in the summer – do you take your dogs with you?
They're going this summer - they've not been before, but I'm there so much and every time we're there we're like, 'Oh, we wish we had'.
We always stay at the Standard Hotel or we rent a villa, but they're always dog friendly. There are so many doggy beaches. I wouldn't take the dogs out in the high seasons, they don't need to be there [then]. September is good for them.
Tell us about your new venture Boat Brunch Ibiza …
We're doing the boat brunches every Sunday from July and August.
We're bringing back the intimacy to the island. All the parties have got so big and so overcrowded, and what we want to do is just bring about that magic of small parties - make everyone feel special, talk to everyone.
The VIP system is not where people want to be. I want to make everyone a VIP that gets on that boat. It's about the music.
The Welsh singer was recovering from emergency intestinal surgery in a Portuguese hospital when she was placed into an induced coma, months after she started her tour
© Jack Beasley
© DAVE BENETT AND DANNY CRAVEN
© Danny Craven
