Amy Winehouse was "close to death twice". The troubled singer's father Mitch claims his daughter - who has publicly battled drug addictions - is now on the road to recovery, but has revealed she was once so ill her family thought she would die.

He said: "People don't want her to get better. But she is better. They didn't see her lying in bed for days in a dark room. She was close to death twice. We have been working a lot to get her to where she is right now." Amy is currently enjoying a holiday in St. Lucia, where she is concentrating on getting healthy.

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Mitch - who has now joined Amy at the Caribbean resort - explained: "She's looking wonderful. She loves it here and doesn't want to go back to England." Despite Mitch's claims Amy has left her wild ways behind her, it was reported last week that her management had asked hotel staff not to serve her any alcohol after her erratic behavior infuriated guests.

Referring to photos of the 25-year-old 'Rehab' singer crawling on all fours in what appeared to be a bid to steal other guests' alcoholic drinks, Mitch said: "They were taken before I arrived here, but she says she was just having fun, pretending to be a horse."

During the holiday Amy is said to have enjoyed a brief romance with actor Josh Bowman, resulting in her husband Blake Fielder Civil - who is currently serving a 27-month prison sentence for assault and perverting the course of justice - filing for divorce. In revealing documentary 'Saving Amy', Mitch reveals it was him who had to break the news about her marriage breakdown to his daughter.

According to Britain's Hello! magazine, Mitch says in the TV programme: "I had to call Amy before she heard about it from someone else. She asked me, 'Daddy, why does he want to divorce me?' I said, 'You know I don't like him, but I have to admit that your behaviour with another man is not what marriage is all about.' " 'Saving Amy' - which shows how Amy's personal problems have affected her whole family - will air later this year.