Earlier this year rock musician Mike Oldfield, creator of Tubular Bells, was headline news, not for his music, but for his love life. His sister Sally, a singer, paced an advertisement for a partner in a newspaper on his behalf. But in the end it was not through the ad, which read, "Successful, good-looking musician/composer, 43, funloving with occasional artistic moods, seeks lovely, affectionate lady 25 - 35 to share extraordinary life of romance," that Mike found love. Far from being a complete stranger, his new girlfriend is someone he has known for three-and-a-half years.

With a brief marriage, two long-term relationships and five children behind him, Mike might be forgiven for being disillusioned with romance. And he has admitted he's not easy to live with, speaking openly about his introverted and depressed adolescence, and the influence of his mentally disturbed mother, who, while passing on to her son her creative talent, provided little stability as he grew up.

Now 46 and worth millions thanks to sales of Tubular Bells and his subsequent albums, Mike has spent years trying to come to terms with his early unhappiness. But it wasn't until he went through what he calls his second adolescence in Ibiza, where he drank and partied for three years, that he found his salvation.

There he met Caroline Monk, who became his manager, and Fanny van de Kerchov, 22, with whom he has been living for about two months. A former French national showjumper, Fanny is now studying law by correspondence course from the musician's Buckinghamshire home, while Mike has been busy finishing his latest work, Millennium Bells, which he will perform in Berlin on New Year's Eve in front of an audience of thousands.

Mike, when did you meet Fanny?

"About three and a half years ago. She was working in Ibiza in a hotel, and we saw each other on and off over the years. When she went back to France we kept in contact, and about two or three months ago we thought we'd give it a try and see if we could live together. It is working out very well indeed."

Fanny, when you met Mike did you know who he was?

"No, I'd never heard of him. My mother knew who he was. In fact, he wrote Tubular Bells when I was just one year old."

What attracted you to Mike?

"He's a simple man. Where most men try to charm you, he and I just used to talk about technology. I don't think about his previous relationships, I just think about ours."

Do you worry about the age difference?

"Everyone asks us that, but that's not how we see each other. And I don't worry about him being an older father as he's a really cool dad. His children are crazy about him."

What motivated you to put an advertisement for a partner in the papers, Mike?

"It was my sister Sally's idea because it is very difficult for me to meet anybody. I went along with it for a laugh. I had 30 or 40 replies, most of which very very uninteresting, and the two people I met as a result didn't work out."

Did you feel you were perceived as resorting to desperate measures?

"Not really. I was doing a concert in Sweden and someone said I should have advertised there and offered to reprint the ad in her column. The next thing I knew every newspaper and TV station in Europe had got hold of the story."

Are you close to your sister?

"Yes. She comes over once or twice a week. There was a period in the Eighties when we didn't see each other so much, but when I was growing up she was a stabilising influence. I also have a brother, Terry, who produces New Age music for meditation and massage."

Who did you inherit your musical talent from?

"My father, who's now retired, was a doctor, and my mother was a nurse, but I think the creative side came from my mother. She was from a big family in Ireland and there were all sorts of strange things she could do like recite hour-long epic poems. Occasionally, when she had a bit too much to drink, she would start doing irish dancing.

"I have so much joy creating something which gives a purpose to my life and brings joy to many people."

Do you ever feel you have inherited some of your mother's psychological problems?

"Yes, my mother was very sick and she died when I was 20. I was in a bad way as a teenager. It was the Sixties and I went through a period of taking drugs. I always consider I had a second adolescence in Ibiza, where I built my dream house, but after a year I got bored with the dream.

"In my real adolescence I was always working and insecure, and suffered from panic attacks. I went through a rebirth experience which cured me of them, and since then I have spent much of my time globetrotting."

You've had one marriage and two long-term relationships. What do you think it is you are looking for?

I was always looking for neurotic women, probably because my mother was one. I'm sure I've passed a lot of women by I could have had relationships with. I've never been able to envisage being happy in a relationship."

Is this because - as your sister said in the advertisement - you're a moody person?

"I don't get moody, but I get stressed by my work. I quite often feel like a fish out of water. But luckily the older I get the more I feel at home on this planet and the more relaxed I am in my body.

"A happy life is a hell of a challenge. I've made my life work through psychotherapy. Fanny is very tolerant and that is what I need. We are just getting to know each other really. She's sexy, intelligent and not afraid of technology. But until now neither of us were ready to be with each other."

INTERVIEW & CO-ORDINATION: SARAH CARTLEDGE
PHOTOS: MAURO CARRARO

Hello Magazine December,14 1999