Duran Duran’s John Taylor, married for 23 years, took a hard look at himself to make his second marriage work

Duran Duran’s John Taylor may not have had a marriage as long as his former bandmate Andy Taylor but he’s been with his second wife for more than two decades.

At the height of his fame, Solihull-born John, 62, was a ladies man, by self admission, and when he reflected on his life, he had some choice words for himself.

He called himself a “creep” and “dilettante” in an interview with Daily Mail. He would pick his girlfriends from covers of fashion magazines.

“I was so addicted to so much stuff that, by the time I was 26, the idea of settling down seemed ridiculous,” he told Daily Mail.

While his bandmates were settling down, he was still looking for the next model to date. However, somewhere along the way things changed and he started taking relationships seriously.

He was engaged to Danish model Renée Simonsen but sadly, things didn’t work out and they broke up four years later.

His first marriage

In 1991, he married his first wife - photographer Amanda de Cadenet - and they had a child together.

“...I certainly didn’t go screwing around on her, but I really struggled to just be a partner. I resented it,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald (TSMH).

When they met, she was only 16 and he was around 28. Amanda - the daughter of racing car driver Alain de Cadenet and Anna, a fashion model - was 19 when they married and had their first child.

“I was very young but I loved him for giving me what I wanted, which was safety and a family. He’s a very kind man and I really needed kindness at the time,” she told Daily Mail about their relationship.

They were hounded by photographers and so, they moved to California. Sadly, the relationship didn’t work and they divorced, but the couple remain friends, she told The Guardian.

His wife - Gela Nash-Taylor

He met Gela in 1996 and the couple married three years later. She is the co-founder of the Juicy Couture fashion label.

John described her as “extraordinary”, “amazing”, and “evolved” in an interview with TSMH.

“She knew who she was and I still had a bit of catching up to do,” he said.

It took him some time to figure out how to be a good partner and he has been making efforts to keep his relationship with Gela strong.

“I work a lot harder on my second marriage,” he tells Red magazine.

They had a blended family when the children were young which includes his daughter, Atlanta, and his wife’s two children from a previous relationship. There were times when the couple wondered if their relationship would make it but they are still together.

He has evolved himself as well and learned that what makes a relationship work are: honesty, openness and authenticity.

“For years, I had a secret life. I couldn’t be honest with my partner.

“So I really had to clean up my act and now I’m starting to see the joys and the effects of that honesty, and what can be gained from it. It is of infinite depth,” he told TSMH.