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'It still catches me' says emotional Andrew Ridgeley over losing best friend George Michael ahead of new Wham! film

Wham! went to China in the hope of gaining enough press attention to crack America, but inadvertently opened up the communist East to a new wave of pop music - Andrew Ridgeley looks back fondly on his and George Michael's time there

[Wham!]

Wham! delivering a dose of culture shock to China in 1984(Image: Mirrorpix)

The loss of George Michael still makes Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley emotional, almost a decade after his untimely death.

A new movie, Wham! 10 Days In China lands in cinemas next week documenting the bands ground-breaking trip to the Far East in 1984, with never-seen before footage of the duo in their pomp.

It moved me, said Ridgeley after revisiting scenes with the childhood friend he affectionately calls Yog: "Sometimes it catches me out. Moments that really appeal to me are the bickering in the back of the car - that's just two youngsters...where you can identify the essence of a real friendship.

[Wham!]

Larking about en route to a show in China

"Those are obviously the things that I miss because we are unable to share them now.

We all miss him. For me to have lost the best friend that I ever had is, obviously, it's difficult, but they're irreplaceable. A childhood friend, with whom you've spent your formative years, become an adult with gone through youth, it's a big loss, as it is for anyone who may have experienced that.

"And the fact that (hes) possibly one of the finest singer songwriters that has ever set foot on the Earth makes it, you know, doubly poignant.

Wham!s trip to China began as a publicity stunt to crack America, but inadvertently ended up becoming a diplomatic mission that introduced Western culture to an oppressed communist nation who had never experienced pop music beforelet alone Wham!s incredible hair and clobber.

[Wham!]

Wham! weren't exactly over the moon at their press responsibilities while out there(Image: Corbis via Getty Images)

Andrew, who went back to China for the film and met audience members, said: It is remarkable to see people's first reaction to that kind of genre of music. It's evident that some had never actually been exposed to that before.

"In hindsight, being able to understand what it meant to those people, it was touching and moving and gave the whole trip a substance and meaning that perhaps didn't have previously. I think George would feel the same way."

The China shows did the trick, within four months Wham! were the biggest band in America and touring stadiums, but just six months later they called it a day.

Did George regret calling time on Wham! so soon?

[Wham!]

The Wham! United team playing football with locals on a day off

No, we wanted to be the biggest pop act in the world. We pretty much were by the time June 28, 1986, rolled round.

So there wasn't a great deal left for us to do, but there was a whole lot for George to do as a solo artist, and he could not do that within the constraints of Wham!

He's on record, expressing that he had reservations about what lay before in front of him as a solo artist, and whether he could, and he has said - that had he known - perhaps, what it entailed, he might have thought twice about it.

"He wasn't unaware of the nature of what he was letting himself in for.

And, you know, we were friends. We still saw each other. It wasn't like Wham! was the end of of our friendship. It was just the end of a chapter in our friendship.

Wham! 10 Days In China opens in cinemas July 28 and will air on the BBC later in the year.

[Andrew Ridgeley]

Andrew Ridgeley went back to China to the first since 84 to make the new film

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