As he strolled through the snow-covered Swiss Alpine village where the Last Christmas video was filmed four decades ago, Andrew Ridgeley experienced a mix of emotions, reports The Mirror.
On one hand, it was a delight to be back alongside the same long-time friends he and Wham! frontman George Michael had invited to join in the shoot back in 1984, reminiscing about their joyful moments. However, it also carried a profound sadness because George, the key figure behind the popular holiday song and his friend since age 12, was not there to enjoy it with them.
The group, which included Wham! backing singers Shirlie Kemp and Pepsi DeMacque, along with old friends Jon Fowler, Cheryl Harrison, Pat Fernandes, and David Rider, traveled to Saas-Fee as both a homage to the song on its 40th anniversary and a tribute to their dearly departed friend, who passed away in 2016 at age 53.
“It was a real delight and a privilege to go back there with old friends,” Andrew tells the Mirror. “But it was bittersweet because he was in our thoughts the whole time.” And as he says in a BBC documentary to mark the song’s anniversary: “There is an incompleteness being here without George. When he left us, he died at Christmas. To lose such a dear friend, when you have a particular bond, it was a truly desperate moment. He was my other half, I’d never conceived of a future without him,” reports The Mirror.
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The music video for Last Christmas stood out because it focused entirely on a storyline rather than featuring any performances. The narrative, which aligns with the memorable and simple chorus, depicts George with a new girlfriend while Andrew is seen with his ex from the previous year—the one who had given his heart back just a day after accepting it.
Reflecting on the enjoyable experience of shooting the video, Andrew, now 61, shares that it was wonderful to reconnect with his old friends. “I think that was a key aspect of the video’s charm, since most of the cast were friends. Viewers could sense its authenticity.”
Chuckling about George, whom he affectionately called Yog, Andrew mentions that he was “not really an outdoor kind of person.” He reminisces about how he spent the majority of the time trying to keep his meticulously styled hair from becoming frizzy while filming outside. “He had his hood up because earlier in the day it had snowed and his hair got wet, resulting in a natural curl that he absolutely despised. His hair is truly legendary, as I’m sure you know,” reports The Mirror.
During the indoor dinner sequences, Andrew and Jon became so intoxicated that they were asked to leave the set. “Jonny and I were removed from the scene for drinking too much and laughing uncontrollably. I laughed so hard that my face ended up swollen. I was completely useless.”
The trip also began with a lot of excitement. “It started in the most bizarre way because Yog and I showed up late, and the others had been drinking all day,” Andrew recalls. “We arrived just in time for dinner and then decided to go skinny-dipping. We were all nude in the pool when Jonny swallowed a huge amount of water and then promptly threw up his dinner. The hotel manager was quite displeased, and the ladies were horrified. They practically flew out of the pool,” reports The Mirror.
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