Having relocated to France – and admitting to replacing his drug habits with cheese – Pete Doherty looked worlds away from his rocker past as he enjoyed a stroll in the sunshine on Monday.
The frontman of rock band Babyshambles, 42, was seen in Normandy walking his dog, sporting a grey mop of hair and a fuller physique.
Having moved to France with his girlfriend Katia de Vidas, the singer appeared to have settled in to life on the continent, seen clutching a wedge of cheese and enjoying it as a snack.
Continental! Having relocated to France – and admitting to replacing his drug habits with cheese – Pete Doherty looked worlds away from his rocker past as he enjoyed a stroll in the sunshine on Monday
Out and about: The frontman of rock band Babyshambles, 42, was seen in Normandy sporting a grey mop of hair and a fuller physique
Gone are the days of his jet-black locks and spindly frame.
The musician – who used to date supermodel Kate Moss – strolled along, tanned from the sun, his dishevelled gray mane falling from under his flat-cap.
Pete sported a mustache and stubble and walked in flip-flops, a tight, creased white shirt and navy shorts.
He clutched a newspaper and carried his dog’s lead en route back from the shop.
Changes: Pete (pictured L in 2012) has been sporting a fuller physique in recent times, and he looked markedly different from when he was the frontman for rock band Babyshambles
Man’s best friend: He was seen walking his dog – a stunning husky
Company: He was joined by Rafa, who plays with him in his band Peter Doherty and the Puta Madres
He was joined by Rafa, who plays with him in his band Peter Doherty and the Puta Madres.
Rafa looked rather disheveled too, and appeared to be taunting Pete’s dog, playfully, with a baguette.
He wore a baggy checked shirt, a cream jumper, black cargo trousers and red trainers.
Pete recently said he has been doing a lot of sleeping, eating French cheese and drinking water following his move to Normandy.
Fromage! He was seen clutching a wedge of cheese and enjoying it as a snack
Sunny France: Having moved to France with his girlfriend Katia de Vidas, the singer appeared to have settled in to life on the continent
Rock’n’roll? Gone are the days of his jet-black locks and spindly frame. The musician strolled along, tanned from the sun, his dishevelled gray mane falling from under his flat-cap
Read all about it: He clutched a newspaper and carried his dog’s lead en route back from the shop
He is generally enjoying a much slower pace of life these days and has reportedly taken to the bowls-style sport, pétanque.
Pete is believed to join the locals at their club for a game of the French sport, which consists of throwing metal balls as close as possible to a target.
The once-troubled star, who lives with his film editor girlfriend Katia, has quit heroine and ketamine but revealed he still enjoying whipping up a cocktail.
One local told the Sun: ‘Peter is no longer a bad boy. He’s relaxing, settling down and loving the goods things in life.
Dishevelled: Pete sported a mustache and stubble and walked in flip-flops, a tight, creased white shirt and navy shorts
Du pain et un chien: Rafa looked rather disheveled too, and appeared to be taunting Pete’s dog, playfully, with a baguette
Bread run: Rafa wore a baggy checked shirt, a cream jumper, black cargo trousers and red trainers
Au revoir! They strolled up the road and headed home
‘We introduced him to pétanque and he’s fallen in love with the game. He often joins our club nights when we play.’
Mikael Grondin, who runs the bakery, said: ‘He is always popping in for a bag of Bout de Choux (creamy little cabbage), which is a pastry filled with cream. Maybe that’s why he’s put on weight but, don’t worry, these will be good for him.’
Pete revealed recently that he especially enjoys cheese on toast and that his ‘guilty pleasure’ is sleeping after he used to stay up for ‘six days’.
Talking in a recent interview, Pete admitted that he is now ‘quite clean’ and that he enjoys a ‘nice glass of water’.
Simple pleasures: Pete recently said he has been doing a lot of sleeping, eating French cheese and drinking water following his move to Normandy
Strolling: He is generally enjoying a much slower pace of life these days and has reportedly taken to the bowls-style sport, pétanque
Mikael Grondin, who runs the local bakery, said recently: ‘He is always popping in for a bag of Bout de Choux (creamy little cabbage), which is a pastry filled with cream. Maybe that’s why he’s put on weight but, don’t worry, these will be good for him’
The previously gaunt rocker famously painted a portrait of then-girlfriend Kate in his blood and was thrown out of rehab for ‘not trying hard enough’ to kick his heroin habit.
He told The Sun about his new lifestyle: ‘I like Comté [a type of French cheese], Comté on toast. My guilty pleasure is sleeping.
‘For years and years, I would stay up for five or six days and then I would sleep for 24 hours, so now I love sleep. At the moment I’m quite clean. I stopped taking heroin and ketamine.’
He added: ‘I like experimenting, making cocktails with champagne, a bit of rum, orange juice, I’m coming across like a bit of an alcoholic, but I’m not — I like a nice glass of water.’
Pete’s bad boy rock and roll image earned him an army of fans including the world’s most famous supermodel Moss, who hung off his arm as they made their way from party to party.
But these days, Pete enjoys nothing more than a genteel stroll through the French countryside with his dog.
Cleaner living: The once-troubled star, who lives with his film editor girlfriend Katia, has quit heroine and ketamine but revealed he still enjoying whipping up a cocktail
One local told the Sun: ‘Peter is no longer a bad boy. He’s relaxing, settling down and loving the goods things in life. We introduced him to pétanque and he’s fallen in love with the game. He often joins our club nights when we play’
New life: Pete revealed recently that he especially enjoys cheese on toast and that his ‘guilty pleasure’ is sleeping after he used to stay up for ‘six days’
Pete has a teenage son, Astile, from his relationship with Lisa Moorish and a daughter, Aisling, from his romance with model Lindi Hingston.
While his most famous relationship was with Kate, he also had a fling with friend Amy Winehouse and a reported tryst with the late Big Brother Seven housemate Nikki Grahame.
While on a promo trail in 2019 with his latest musical offering, he was forced to pull out of a radio appearance after his finger got infected from an hedgehog spike.
He’d attempted to rescue the animal from his Siberian Huskies during a dog walk.
The Libertines bought a hotel in Margate, which Pete admitted was the ‘saving of him’ because he had a roof over his head and didn’t have to worry about rent.
Healthy living: Pete is pictured with ex-girlfriend Kate Moss in 2005
Last year, the frontman was charged with driving while disqualified after he was stopped by police in the early hours while riding an electric motorbike in Margate, Kent.
Pete had already been been given a six-month disqualification in October 2019 after he was caught speeding four times in three weeks.
On that occasion, at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court, he was ordered to pay £9,228 and he was heard to have muttered ‘ouch’ at the fine.
And in November 2019, Doherty was fined £8,500 and given a three-month suspended jail sentence for ‘violence while intoxicated’ after being arrested in Paris twice in a week.
He had been detained in the Pigalle district for buying cocaine before getting into an argument with two passers-by that led to his eventual re-arrest.
Fame: Babyshambles, pictured here at a gig in Leicester in 2004, won an army of Indie fans
Pete is a frequent visitor to Paris, and often spends long periods living and performing in the French capital.
He shot to fame in the mid-2000s and has been arrested numerous times for drug offences.
Pete’s turbulent relationship with Kate came to an end in 2007, months after he revealed he’d proposed to her.
In the past, he has pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine, heroin, cannabis and ketamine.
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In 2012, he was thrown out of a luxury rehab clinic in Thailand after claims he was a bad influence on other patients and did not try hard enough to kick his heroin habit.
Exploits: Pete’s bad boy rock and roll image earned him an army of fans including the world’s most famous supermodel Kate [pictured together in 2007]
