Wham!'s Andrew Ridgeley Says Recreating ‘Last Christmas’ Scenes for Documentary Felt ‘Incomplete’ Without George Michael

Returning to the world of “Last Christmas” was a bittersweet experience for Wham!’s Andrew Ridgeley.

The musician — one half of the iconic ’80s pop duo — recently returned to Saas-Fee, Switzerland, where the music video for the 1984 holiday hit was filmed. Experience, he said Hello! magazine, felt “incomplete” without his late bandmate George Michael, who died suddenly on Christmas Day 2016.

“We had a great time and recreating those scenes seemed like yesterday,” Ridgeley told the UK outlet before expressing his desire to give his lifelong friend and Wham! the bandmate — whom he refers to using Michael’s childhood nickname, “Jog” — could have been by his side in the Swiss mountains.

Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael in the artwork for Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’.

Columbia Records

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“But it was incomplete because Yog wasn’t with us,” Ridgeley said. “I think enough time has passed since his death that we can remember and look back mostly fondly. He would want us to enjoy each other, even if he wasn’t there.”

Ridgeley returned to the snowy mountains to film part of a new BBC documentary, Wham!: Unwrapped Last Christmaswhich traces the song’s path from a Christmas hit to a cultural phenomenon. Written and produced by Michael, the enduring holiday classic celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.

The original music video for “Last Christmas” features Ridgeley and Michael as friends who bond over the holidays with a twist. Last year, Michael gave the girl his heart and, as he sang in the song, she “gave him away” – to none other than Ridgeley.

But despite the tension between the on-screen romantic rivals, filming the video was actually fantastic, Ridgeley recalled Hello! magazine.

“There was a lot going on that would have led to some pretty hairy outbursts. When George and I arrived, the others were already enjoying themselves at the bar and it was already quite noisy,” he said. “We were a group of friends who had a wonderful time together and a real sense of camaraderie, togetherness, enjoyment and laughter — the carefree joys of youth.”

Given those memories — and how much Michael loved Christmas — “it’s a painful irony” that he died on the holiday, Ridgeley said. But in the years since the pop icon’s death, it has become easier to deal with his grief at this time of year.

Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael from Wham! performed in 1984.

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“Although it was very difficult in the months immediately following his death, the passage of time dulls the edge and gives you a slightly different perspective on things,” he told the magazine. “So now we can have a positive memory of yoga at Christmas.”

Ridgeley also teased more Wham! projects — similar Last Christmas Unwrapped and last year’s Netflix documentary — in the future, a change from the quiet years he’s spent out of the spotlight since the duo split in 1986.

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Andrew Ridgeley 2023

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“To be a part of something that has such an impact on people’s lives is extremely flattering and humbling,” he said of his role in the hit-making duo, which dates back to his and Michael’s close friendship in high school.

And, the musician recalled, longtime friends and colleagues always “had each other to keep us on the right and narrow level as far as letting things go”.

Wham!: Unwrapped Last Christmas is available to stream on Netflix.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education