Amy Winehouse interview battle

Amy Winehouse sparks US and UK interview battle

Amy Winehouse has found herself at the heart of a frantic bidding war between primetime US and UK TV shows to bag an exclusive no-holds-barred interview with her – while rumours abound that she is back on drugs.

The soulful singer - who, after scooping five Grammys, has seen her Back to Black album shoot up to number two in the US charts - has sparked a tug of war between big-cheese interviewers.

In the States, Larry King has been bombarding Amy’s people with requests to get her on his CNN show, Larry King Live, while Oprah Winfrey has made similar enquiries. In England, Sir Trevor McDonald is said to be particularly interested in bagging an interview for a Tonight special.

Larry, who is said to be leading the interview race, has even sent a memo to her offices, which read: ‘I would love to have Amy on - as soon as she is well and ready.’

But, if recent reports are to be believed, Amy has succumbed to the lure of drugs again, after a recent, supposedly successful, stint in rehab.

According to the Sun, Amy has reportedly returned to her old habits of using cocaine and cannabis to ease emotional pain – and she is said to be struggling with her husband’s ongoing incarceration.

Friends have reported fearing for her safety. One friend even told of her horror when, last week, Winehouse deliberately burnt her own hand with a lighter, screaming: ‘My life is a shell of what it was.

‘People talk to me and I just zone out. It’s like the whole world is now stillborn. Colours aren’t as bright, love doesn’t feel real. I don’t know who I am and I just feel numb.’

Other friends have reported that she only abstained from drugs in rehab in a bid to secure a visa to make it to the Grammys.

Meanwhile, the troubled singer’s Norwegian court appearance, scheduled for this Friday, has been postponed.

Winehouse, along with her husband and a friend, was fined 500 euros and spent a night in the cells after allegedly being found with 7g (250z) of cannabis.

But her lawyer, Ole Kvelstad, has, for the moment, successfully filed a petition to postpone the hearing, set to be held in Bergen, because her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, cannot make the date.

Mr Kvelstad said the court had insisted all three were present for the appeal and that this became impossible when police failed to ensure Fielder-Civil would be there.