Jo Wood, the second ex-wife of Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, goes into bitter details about Ronnie's infidelities as well as their cocaine-fueled lifestyle in her memoir, "Hey Jo," which goes on sale in the U.K. on Feb. 28, 2013 and in the U.S. on May 21, 2013. (The U.S. release date is subject to change.)
It's no secret that Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood is a recovering drug addict and alcoholic, since he's talked about it in many interviews. He also confessed a lot of his bad behavior in his 2007 memoir "Ronnie." However, when he wrote the book, he was still married to Jo, so the description of their marriage was very loving.
As previously reported, Jo is now telling her side of the story about their marriage in her memoir. In the book, she blames Ronnie for the end of their marriage, which she said was ruined by his lies, cheating and addictions.
Jo and Ronnie became romantically involved soon after they met in 1977, when he was still married to his first wife, Krissie. (Ronnie and Krissie divorced in 1978.) Jo and Ronnie got married in 1985, they separated in 2008, she filed for in divorce in 2009, and the divorce was finalized in 2011.
Ronnie and Jo have two biological kids together: Leah (born in 1978) and Tyrone (born in 1984). Ronnie's eldest child, Jesse (who was born in 1977), is from his first marriage. Jo's eldest child is a son named Jamie (born in 1974) from a previous relationship.
The Daily Mail published excerpts from Jo's book. The excerpts include her description of how she and Ronnie became addicted to freebasing cocaine.
Jo writes: "I don’t regret doing freebase. But I do regret wasting 18 months in the bathroom when I should have been spending more time with my kids. A few months after I gave up, I was in New York with Ronnie, and Bobby Womack came over to freebase with him. They were badgering me to join them. I gave in. Some 12 hours later I was scrabbling around the floor looking for stray crumbs. And at that moment I decided: "I will never, ever do freebase again." And I never did."
But even at the height of her freebasing frenzy in the early 1980s, Jo claims that she was still a good mother: "It was a crazy time, but I know I was always a good mum. We never did drugs in front of the kids, but sometimes we’d still be high when they woke up, and I would try to sneak off to bed so they didn’t see me."
Ronnie has been to rehab multiple times, and he has said in many interviews that he's been clean and sober since 2010.
Jo also details what she went through in 2008, when Ronnie left her for Ekatarina "Katia" Ivanova, who was an 18-year-old waitress at the time. In the excerpts published by the Daily Mail, she also talks about finding out that Ronnie cheated on her with several other women. She suspects that actress Kelly LeBrock was one of his flings, although Jo says Ronnie always denied it.
In October 2012, Jo auctioned off several of Ronnie's personal belongings, including guitars, stage clothes and artwork. Ronnie publicly objected to the auction, but the auction still went ahead as planned. In a Daily Mail interview published in November 2012, Jo's son Jamie said that it was his idea to auction off Ronnie's belongings because he said that Ronnie had abandoned the items when he left Jo. Jamie also said that the auction was done because he and Jo needed the money.
Ronnie is now married to his third wife, Sally Humphreys, who is a theater producer. The couple wed in London on Dec. 21, 2012. They knew each other for several years before they started dating in late 2011. According to Hello! magazine, which published exclusive photos from the wedding, Ronnie's three biological children were at the wedding, but his stepson Jamie was not.
Since her split from Ronnie, Jo has appeared as a contestant on "Strictly Come Dancing" and occasionally attend shows during London Fashion Week. Jo also has a beauty-product business called Jo Wood Organics.
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