Famous 90s wild child Amanda de Cadenet considered an affair with actor Keanu Reeves while she was a teenager pregnant with Duran Duran bassist John Taylor’s child, her new tell-all book reveals.
The British-born TV host, who rose to fame during her high-profile marriage to the rock star by whom she became pregnant aged 18, lifts the lid on her once-drug-fueled lifestyle, one-night stands, and her stint in juvie.
De Cadenet went on to move to Los Angeles and host The Conversation, and is now a photographer and media entrepreneur.
The disclosure of her romantic pursuit of the Hollywood star is made in her upcoming book, It’s Messy: Essays on Boys, Boobs, and Badass Women.
De Cadenet describes the moment she met the actor, who she was set to interview for British talk show, The Word, as her ‘first love-at-first-sight story.’
‘Love at first sight’: Amanda de Cadenet reveals she was smitten by actor Keanu Reeves after meeting him while she was pregnant with John Taylor’s baby. They were photographed together in 2001. De Cadenet is coy about exactly when they were lovers, although she is clear that it was after her divorce
Teen mom: De Cadenet rose to fame after she became pregnant at 18 by Duran Duran bass guitarist John Taylor and married him and had his baby at 19. She writes that their child was planned and the best decision she had made.
‘We met when I was two months pregnant, 19 years old, and married to another man,’ she writes.
‘Within minutes of first laying eyes on him, I remember thinking, “I wonder how many pregnant women have affairs?” I was surprised by my strong attraction to a man I had just met.’
But Reeves, who is eight years her senior, initially spurned her, as he is, she describes, ‘a man with hard-core ethics.’
The two went on to date publicly, but that was thanks to her own relentlessness and divorce two years later.
‘From the day I got divorced, two years after we first met, I tried every goddamn trick in the book to get him to submit to my advances. Even tried-and-tested seduction tactics, which had otherwise worked with 100 percent success, failed with Mr Reeves for many years.
‘He was having none of it, and thank God because had we become lovers at that point, I don’t think we would have the powerful transformative friendship that we have today,’ she admits.
De Cadenet, now married to The Strokes guitarist Nick Valensi, has stated in interviews that she has only two male close friends, her husband, and Reeves.
De Cadenet and Taylor married when she was 19 and he was 31. They were seen at London Heathrow Airport with their baby daughter in 1992. The marriage did not last
All grown up: Amanda says choosing motherhood at a young age was one of the ‘best decisions’ that she has made. Above she is pictured with 25-year-old daughter Atlanta Noo de Cadenet Taylor
She gave birth to her first daughter Atlanta Noo de Cadenet Taylor in March 1992.
And contrary to what many might have thought, she says, ‘my daughter was planned, and choosing motherhood at age eighteen [their daughter was born when de Cadenet turned 19] is to this day one of the best decisions that I’ve made.’
In fact, having a child at such a young age ‘saved her life,’ she believes.
‘John and I were madly in love, but we both had some untreated addiction issues – not the best circumstances in which to bring a child into the world. But the moment I was pregnant, I quit every activity that was unhealthy […]’
Party girl: After having her television career kick off at age 15, Amanda gained the reputation of notorious wild child in the early 90s. She was photographed with Duran Duran lead singer Simon Le Bon during her marriage to its drummer John
Up until her pregnancy, she had gained the reputation of notorious party girl, well known among rock stars and no stranger to drug use.
After giving birth, she returned to the party scene, and was often seen stumbling around with Courtney Love.
Growing up as what she described a ‘privileged white girl’ – having been born to successful Le Mans race car driver Alain de Cadenet and his fashion model wife Anna in the posh London neighborhood of Chelsea – her adolescent years took a turn for the worse when she ran away at 15.
She crashed at a squat for runaways in Soho, where she would be introduced to what London’s nightlife had to offer – drugs and casual sex.
It was her ’20-year-old’ body that she says got her access into sleazy nightclubs and hanging with the wrong crowd as an underage teen.
But her life on the run was short-lived after a drug-fueled night landed her in a juvenile detention center in West London, she reveals.
‘I was lying on a mattress in the attic of the squat wearing nothing but my socks, trying to get my mind to stop racing after a night of drug use, when I heard a huge crash downstairs,’ she writes.
‘Policemen burst into the room; someone shone a bright light into my face then threw a rough blanket around me to cover my naked body; and before I could register what was happening, I was bundled down the stairs, my hands handcuffed behind my back, and literally thrown into a back of a van.’
Wild child: After having her daughter, Amanda returned to the party scene and was often spotted with rock star Courtney Love (left) in 1995, and Rose McGowan in Hollywood in 2000
Happily ever after: De Cadenet married The Strokes guitarist Nick Valensi in 2006
She was taken to a police station where officers believed she had been a victim of teen prostitution, and she raised more suspicions after admitting she was sexually active at the age of 15.
However, Amanda reveals she lost her virginity to her first boyfriend at that age, which then was considered a ‘late bloomer.’
It was a sexual encounter with another boy named Tom, that she says left her ‘traumatized’.
‘My most significant memory is of him unbuckling his pants, pulling down his underwear, and forcing my head down, onto his d**k,’ she says.
‘Then he did what all teen boys do: c**e in seconds. It happened so fast I gagged. And my mouth was filled with the disgusting taste of what I can only describe as pureed onion.
‘My sexual experiences were going from bad to worse. I’ve no doubt suffered some PTSD from Tom’s maneuver, although back then forced fellatio was written off as regular teenage behavior.’
Those experiences however, were not enough to put her off one-night stands, something for which she has three rules – No. 1 being: ‘Stay away from other people’s partners.’
She writes: ‘There are enough people in the world. I feel really strongly about that.’
But rule number one may stem from her own experiences with cheating, and being the other woman.
When discussing her relationships and marriages she reveals that ‘ I, myself was a serial cheater for the early part of my sex life.’
De Cadenet reportedly also began dating her current husband while he was romantically involved with her close friend, model Pearl Lowe.
De Cadenet and Valensi now have two children, twins Silvan and Ella, born in 2006, but she admits she had an abortion when her daughter Atlanta was still a child.
It’s Messy will be released on September 19, 2017
‘I got pregnant with a partner who was adamant about his wish to not become a father. I was madly in love with him, and there was nothing I wanted more than to have a child with this beautiful, spirited man.
‘But when I told him the news, he straight up said: “My dad split when I was a kid, and I don’t want to be an absent father. Please do not make me do this until I’m ready, and I’m really not.”‘
She describes terminating the pregnancy was ‘hands down one of the hardest choices I’ve ever made’ but loved her partner so much she chose to honor his wishes instead of hers.