I told the truth in court.. my fans know that

PETER ANDRE has just had arguably the worst week of his career, with a High Court judge accusing him of fabricating details as a key witness in an explosive court case.

Mr Justice Flaux called the Strictly star “extremely unsatisfactory” in court, branding some of his evidence “frankly ridiculous and “not truthful”.

But in his first interview since the ruling was made public, the ex-husband of KATIE PRICE insisted he wasn’t lying and that his Mr Nice Guy image is as real as his six-pack.

During a visit to Bizarre HQ yesterday, the defiant star, who cancelled his honeymoon to give evidence in court, told me: “I was telling the truth.”

Pete is clearly hopeful his die-hard fanbase are committed enough to stick by him, despite the publicity around the case between his former producer and ITV2.

He said: “We are in an industry where you’ve probably got to expect a lot of negativity. But what shows is a pattern — and if people see what you’re like as a person they generally make up their mind.

Peter with me at Bizarre HQ ... the closest he's been to Katie in six years Daniel Jones Images Ltd

“My fans get so protective, they can be so wonderful and funny and I love them to death. It’s been 25 years and you’ve seen how loyal they are.”

He added: “What I do believe is if you treat people with respect and love and loyalty then people will accept you as a whole, they won’t look at individual things.”

Pete is also involved in a protracted legal battle with his famous ex-wife.

But he is determined not to let the drama plunge him back into the darkness he felt after his career nosedived in the early Noughties.

He recalled: “I fell into the anxiety hole or depression, even though I don’t know if that’s what it was.

“I’ve been so scared of falling back into there that I had to look at everything a different way or I’d have just spiralled back in.”

The 42-year-old credits new wife Emily MacDonagh, a doctor who is 16 years his junior, for getting him through his latest challenges, including the death of his brother Andrew from cancer. She had their first child, Amelia, in January.

Emily ... a good influence on Peter Zak Hussein/Corbis

He says: “Emily is a very good influence on me — kind, very smart, a logical thinker, she doesn’t panic.

“My last panic attack was three years ago, when I lost my brother. I went six months after that worse than ever and again I fell into that.

“But Emily’s the one who helped me overcome it. I want to make it to our 60th anniversary, like my parents, though I’d have to live to 104. I’m going to go for it.”

The stress appears to have taken its toll. Pete is thinner now than he was after his devastating split from Katie, when he was warned to put on weight.

He puts his look down to his vigorous Strictly regime.

He said: “I’ve lost seven kilograms because I’m training seven hours a day and don’t have time to eat. I’m 70kg, the same weight I was for Mysterious Girl 20 years ago.

“This morning Emily made a sandwich for me to take to work with my name on it. No one’s ever done that before. A packed lunch.”

Strictly Peter ... inspired by Jacko and Prince BBC

The one woman in his life he won’t speak about is Katie. He bristles at the mention of her name and the picture of her on Bizarre’s office wall.

I asked about her claims that they no longer speak, despite being parents to Junior, ten, and Princess, eight.

He replied awkwardly: “I don’t know how to answer that. I have them exactly half the time. It’s fine. Everything’s fine. Do you know what, everything is grand.”

How does he feel about Katie constantly speaking about him in interviews?

He replied tellingly: “Have you met Emily? She’s wonderful.”

He’d much rather talk about Strictly, where bookies say he is the most popular contestant ever.

But Pete is convinced he has no chance of winning against professionally trained dancers JAY 
McGUINESS of THE WANTED and Call the Midwife actress HELEN GEORGE.

A tough act to beat ... Jay and Helen BBC

He said: “I want to make this point clear, I’ve been on stage for years but what I did was purely self-taught by watching idols like MICHAEL JACKSON and PRINCE.

“I’ve never been to dance school, so technically I’ll never be brilliant.”

Rival Jay attended the Charlotte Hamilton School of Dance and Midlands Academy of Dance and Drama.

Pete said: “In regards to Jay, as long as everyone now knows he’s dance school trained then fair play to him.”

Pete remains as image conscious as ever after his stint on the show, inviting me to feel his abs, which are as impressively toned as ever.

“Not bad for 42,” he says with a smile. “And my hair is one million per cent natural. I get my brother to cut out my grey. I swear by coconut oil. I don’t mind a bit of Botox. When it’s really obvious I’ll get a baby dose.”

Time stands still ... Peter still has the abs

His latest round of publicity is to promote his new album, the swing-themed Come Fly With Me, out to coincide with what would have been late legend FRANK SINATRA’s 100th birthday.

It’s one of Warner Music’s main releases for the lucrative Christmas market and Pete’s first album via a major record label in more than a decade.

The album even features a swing version of his biggest hit, re-titled to Mysterious Swing.

He explained: “I asked my dad, who is 82, if he would ever listen to Mysterious Girl in his car and he said, ‘Probably not’. I thought it would be fun I still want to make him proud. It’s a totally different vibe to the original.”

Pete feels he has nothing to prove any more and isn’t worried about negative reactions to the record.

He said: “I’m a happy person, I never try and be serious. Even though I love what I do, I’m not ROD STEWART. I like doing my own thing, as long as people know I’m having fun with it hopefully they accept it”