AT HOME WITH LORD
OF THE DANCE
MICHAEL FLATLEY!
HE DANCED HIS WAY TO
A FORTUNE--NOW THE TALENTED STAR CAN SIT BACK AND ENJOY THE FINER THINGS
IN LIFE
When you
come calling at Michael Flatley's new London home situated in one of
north west London's most exclusive enclaves, a uniformed butler answers
the door. Would I like my coat taken? Would I care for tea, coffee,
a glass of vintage Batard-Montrachet, smoked salmon sandwiches cut in
neat circles? Would I mind taking a seat in the elegant drawing room
that overlooks the driveway, where the Ferrari, the Aston Martin, the
Range Rover and custom-built Rolls-Royce are parked?
To say
that 40-year-old Michael has a lavish lifestyle is something of an understatement.
Now worth an estimated 60 million pounds sterling, thanks to the success
of his Irish dance extravaganza Lord of the Dance, he can afford to
splash out. After four years of living hotel rooms around the world,
he recently decided to become king of his very own castle -- and the
home he has chosen is quite spectacular.
Once owned
by vaudeville star Lillie Langtry (King Edward VII is said to have wooed
her here), this nine-bedroom, Grade II building has been extensively
refurbished to Michael's exacting tastes. Despite the opulence of his
home, in the flesh Michael is surprisingly low-key, wearing jeans and
cowboy boots, and speaking incredibly softly in his lilting half-Irish,
half-American accent, as he talks to OK! about his work, rest and play.
You
only moved into this house just before Christmas, but you seem remarkably
settled aready.
"This house if magic, it says 'class'. I fell in love with it as
soon as I saw it, and when I came in through that front door for the
first time, it was almost as though I'd been here before.
I've had it completely gutted, and I think everyone was afraid I was
going to turn it into a real James Bond-style place, but that's not
me at all. I went to great lengths to maintain the integrity of the
property and everything in here has to be of a certain quality, a certain
class. I spent nearly as much refurbishing the house as I did buying
it in the first place.
You
must have had to employ an army of architects, builders and designers...
I had a great team of people, and I didn't see the house at
all from when they started work to when they finished it, but wherever
I was in the world, the designers would send me photographs of things
- like they'd send me ten different pictures of sofas and I'd pick out
the one I wanted. I ws quite overwhelmed when I saw the finished result.
Where
did you choose to spend Christmas this time around?
I spent a month in Barbados and just before Christmas, with
my mum and dad, Eilish and Michael. But I spent Christmas Day itself
here at home. I had a lady friend over, and we had a beautiful Christmas
dinner with a couple of bottles of Chateau Latour, and two violinists
playing for us.
So
you have a girlfriend then?
Yes, but it's nothing serious, really. I can't tell you her
name.
Do
you ever feel at all lonely, living here by yourself?
No, I feel very comfortable here. I have a chef that lives
in, and the butler, and I'm perfectly happy having a mug of tea by the
fire with Paddy, my poodle. I'm allergic to most cats and dogs, except
poodles, because their hair doesn't shed. He's the most loving, affectionate
dog you'll ever meet. It's so good coming home and seeing him. I spend
a lot of time with him.
Do
you do much socialising?
I love London. I have a lot of friends here, and I like nothing
better than spending a few hours having a quiet pint in the local pubs
with my mates. I used to have to take along security guys whenever I
went out, but they all turned into friends of mine. I don't really need
security but it's nice to have someone there just to look after you.
A lot of people ask for autographs and they're usually very respectful,
but when it goes on and on and on, you can't really enjoy your evening.
Do
you like to entertain at home as well?
I like to give dinner parties. I'm sure people will think I'm
a little bit crazy and eccentric, but every night, even when I'm here
on my own, I make sure I dress in a suit and tie for dinner. And on
Saturdays, I generally wear a dinner suit. When I'm done, I'll change
into another jacket and go downstairs to my den for cigars and cognac.
Do
you spend a lot of money on clothes?
Yes, out of necessity...I have the Versace collection, the Armani collection,
the Brioni collection. But I also like wearing a nice comfortable pair
of jeans and these old boots, which I've been buying from the same guy
for the past 20 years. They're custon-made by a man in east L.A. who
doesn't speak a single word of Enlgish, but I always give him my business
because he's such a nice guy. I've been going to him since I was so
broke I couldn't pay attention! I wear these with my tuxedos, with my
blue jeans -- I really odn't like any other shoes, to tell you the truth.
You
have the best cars, the best in clothes, the best in furnishings...do
you always have to have the best of everything?
That's a hard one. How can I say this without coming out wrong?
I work my ass off and I do like to have the best things in the world,
yes. If someone else has spent their whole life trying to create the
best of something, why wouldn't I want to admire it?
Have you ever driven a Ferrari? Let me tell you, as driving experiences
go, it doesnt suck! But, as beautiful as a Ferrari is, I have to say
that I've never driven anything quite like a Rolls-Royce, nothing else
comes close. Mine was delivered the day before yesterday. It has this
really cool little plaque on that says it is custom designed for me.
I didn't buy it just so that I could show it off to my neighbours. I
bought it because I've always dreamed of owning the best car in the
world. So yeah, I do surround myself with the best things in life,
but at the same time I'm the type of guy who can drink Budweiser in
a tuxedo, or champagne in blue jeans. Those details really don't
matter to me.
Are
you surprised by your own success in showbusiness?
I knew I was a good dancer and I knew that I would be able to do great
things if I got the chance, and God was good enough to give that chance.
I gave it my best shot and fortunately I didn't blow it. I got
great exposure when I was in Riverdance, but the big money
didn't come to me until Lord of the Dance. The effect
that the show has on people is incredible...I just can't explain it.
I don't understand it, but I'm just happy that it has worked out like
that. I do consider myself a very lucky man.
You
returned from Lord of the Dance last July. Was it a tough decision
to give up performing?
It was the doctor's decision. Of course I didn't want to stop
dancing , because I can dance today as well as I could 20 years ago,
but my body was taking a very severe beating over a sustained period
of time. The doctors said that no one could do what I was doing,
day after day after day, and not be affected.
They're extremely concerned about my legs right now, although they really
can't say exactly what the lasting damage might be. it might well
be that in ten years time I won't be able to stand up any more.
Even now, my legs are really sore when I get up in the morning, and
it takes me a few minutes to straighten them. Apart from that,
I feel as though I'm in great shape.
What
do you miss most about not performing any more?
My two leading ladies, Gillian and Bernadette, because I just love them.
Gillian is just like sex on legs, but I'll probably miss Bernie the
most because she is the closest person to me, and dancing with her was
like dancing with an agenl. She is a star in the truest sense
of the word and she's beautiful, inside and out.
Do
you miss the adulation of the crowd that comes with live performance?
Yes, it's an unbelievable feeling. Your eyes well up, your throat
tightens, the hair stands up on the back of your neck, and you want
to go out there and start hugging people. And it's like that
every single show, it always feels like the first time. There
were times when I went on stage and my legs were killing me, times I
wondered if I had the stamina for the show, but all that goes away when
the music starts. I just melt and I can't wait to dance.
It's what I was born to do.
Might
you do some one-off performances in the future, or have the doctors
advised you against it?
The doctors advised me to stop dancing before I even left Riverdance
in 1995 and I'm glad I didn't listen to them. I would happily
trade you two years on stage for ten years off it, because no other
experience comes close. I really do believe that every day counts
and my biggest fear in the world is that I'll be on my death bed thinking,
'God, I wish I had done that. I should have tried.' There
is a chance that I will decided to do a Feet of Flames tour towards
the end of the year.
There
are currently three Lord of The Dance troupes, with plans for
two more to be launched. Are you a hard taskmaster?
I'm a good businessman. I get things done. I'm a perfectionist,
and so are most of the people around me. I don't think the Lord
of the Dance performers would be happy if they were working with someone
who just went through the motions and didn't challenge them. I
pay well, I treat people well and I give 120 per cent, so I expect other
people to pull their weight.
What
other projects are you working on?
I'm working on a movie right now, which I hope will be released around
Christmas time. It's a kind of rocky meets Dirty Dancing story,
but it's not autobiographical! And I just finished writing my
first book, which I would describe as a motivational book about achieving
your goals and dreams in business. Now I've started working on
an autobiography.
Do
you feel anything is missing from your life?
What I would like most of all in my life is a wife. I meet a lot
of girls and I'm lucky enought to be surrounded by so many beautiful
dancers, but it's just a question of meeting the right person at the
right time. I'd really like to meet somebody who's highly intelligent
but also warm and passionate. I look back at my marriage to my
ex-wife, Beata, and I still think she's one of the most beautiful women
I know -- and she's certainly one of the most intelligent.
Would
you like to have children?
Yeah, absolutely. I'd love to have kids -- I can't imagine what
it would be like to see their faces light up with joy on Christmas morning...it
must be the greatest feeling in the world for any parent.
Are
you a romantic?
I am a hopeless romantic, as any one of my dancers will tell you.
When I give dinner parties, I fill my dining room with candles and have
violin players, and put roses on all the plates. Chivalry is not
dead, and I believe that a man should always be a gentleman, and a woman
should be treated like a lady. I still send flowers to my ex-wife
on Thanksgiving, at Christmas and our wedding anniversary and I will
continue to do so for the rest of my life. I tried to bring her
a rose home on every single day of our marriage.
Are
you a fairly even-tempered person, or do you have great swings of emotion?
You can't experience the enormous highs that I have without having lows,
too, and sometimes I have suffered greatly from depression. But
the rest of the time I'm just ecstatic, because my life is almost too
good to be true.
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