STANDING in a room surrounded by images of Bob the Street Cat, tears well up in James Bowen’s eyes as he holds an urn containing the ashes of his beloved pet.
Together they met Kate Middleton, traveled the world first class, sold nine million books and made two films.
He attended movie premieres around the world and even met Kate Middleton[/caption]
Fans from North America to Asia were swept away by the heartwarming story of how a stray ginger cat helped the homeless busker quit drugs.
On social media, people couldn’t get enough of the videos of Bob passing through his hands as he perched on James’ shoulder.
But when Bob was hit and killed by a speeding ticket in June 2020, this fairy tale turned into a nightmare.
Grief-stricken by the loss of the “love of my life”, James found himself in a “hole” that he had to fill.
The author reveals for the first time that he chose to fill it with the drugs that had nearly killed him before.
The 43-year-old Londoner says: “When Bob died he was the love of my life.
“He was my best friend and I cried in pain and grief for months.
“I remember feeling suicidal. I felt like I wanted it to end. I started looking for an escape again and started using heroin again.
Gradually, James became addicted to the Class A drug which kills more people than any other illegal substance in Britain.
It cost him his planned wedding to his fiancée Monika Hertes and almost his “sanity”.
Last summer, he took heroin every day and was back to the state he was in before he met Bob.
Cold turkey on the streets of Bangkok
James has been wracked with guilt for letting down his family and friends, and the thousands of fans who still follow his social media pages.
Above all, he knew he had let Bob down.
“I wouldn’t have taken heroin if he had been there,” James told The Sun.
Finally, at the end of last year, he decided to quit.
The plan was to go to a rehabilitation center in Thailand, but when he got there in November, James found there had been confusion over funding and he had to leave after just two days.
The next thing James knew was that he was going ‘cold turkey’ on the streets of the capital Bangkok.
And even though her hip bones crumbled from all the years of sleeping rough in London, that turned out to be her toughest moment.
James says: “I ended up going to rehab on the streets of Bangkok. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. »
Alone in a foreign country, he had no painkillers and no money for accommodation.
“I had sweats, cramps – hot and cold, never comfortable. Headaches are the worst,” he explains.
Realizing he couldn’t cope with the incredibly damp streets of the bustling city, James began texting everyone he knew back home.
Remarkably, the first person to answer his Whatsapp call was actor Luke Treadaway. who played James in both A Street Cat Named Bob films.
Luke, 38, who also played Alex Higgins in the BBC snooker film The Rack Pack and starred in Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken, offered to help.
He provided the money James needed to stay in a backpacker hostel and then buy a flight home.
The former Big Issue salesman says of Luke: “How amazing, to be there for me after all this time.”
After four days and three nights of drug rehab in Bangkok, James knows he can’t make the same potentially fatal mistake again.
Since returning home to south London almost three months ago, he has not touched drugs.
“It made me realize that I screwed up and had to fix things,” promises James.
He knows he needs a purpose in life.
Her plan is to return to support organizations such as The Big Issue, which helps the homeless, and pet charity Blue Cross.
James, who has released songs in the past, has a home studio where he does more music – and there’s also interest in him doing a life documentary series.
He also wants to leave the £500,000 detached house “that Bob bought me” because it contains too many memories of the cat.
To many people, it may seem odd that a person’s hopes and dreams could be so inextricably tied to their pet, but there’s no doubt that James had a remarkable bond with Bob.
The stray cat started following him around soon after he moved to a social flat in North London in 2007.
When Bob didn’t feel like walking, he would perch on James’ shoulder – and he amazed his owner with his level of intelligence.
James says, “Bob was a genius. He knew where the camera was, we had to put child locks on all the closets because of him.
When they first met, James was on a methadone program aimed at weaning him off opioids.
He credits the friendly feline with persuading him not to do drugs.
This uplifting tale was turned into the best-selling book A Street Cat Named Bob in 2010, which sold over a million copies in Britain and reached global best-seller lists.
James says: “Everywhere we went, people lined up to see us when we were signing. Fonz star Henry Winkler queued for three hours to meet us at the Covent Garden Waterstones, I’m told.
“Bob’s soul held out until I got there”
“I felt that being in the public eye, I was able to serve a purpose. Explain where I come from.
The couple have visited Japan, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, France and Canada, and met royalty at the premiere of The Street Cat Named Bob in 2016 with Kate, now Princess of Wales.
Bob played himself in the film, with the help of a few furry stand-ins.
James recalls: “She gave Bob a scratch in his ears. He knew he was in the presence of important people. We had a little chat. She does an incredible job.
The estimated £1million James earned from book sales enabled him to buy his own house.
Finally settled in, he met Monika in 2018 and they planned to get married in 2020.
But Covid lockdown restrictions forced them to postpone the ceremony.
When Bob didn’t come home one night, the frantic couple went looking for him everywhere.
They learned that tragically he was taken to a vet after being run over.
By the time James arrived, his most treasured friend had been pronounced dead.
But he reveals: “His eyes were still open when I picked him up from the vet.
“When I brought him home, I believe his soul held on until I got there, and then he closed his eyes.”
Nobody knows how old Bob was, as James found him wandering, but he was probably between 14 and 16 years old.
James has filled their home with new animals, including the cats Bandit and Gizmo, both aged three, and a dog called Chewbacca, aged two.
They already had another cat named Jinxy, five, who was known to high-five like Bob.
But neither the animals nor his future wife were enough to shake the troubled musician from his overwhelming grief.
He explains, “I picked up Bandit and Gizmo and they gave me a source of hope, but once you’re in that spiral, it’s hard to get out of it.
“I was failing in my relationship. I didn’t want to cause her any pain, so I ended up with her.
Like so many people who experience sudden fame, it was also difficult for James to no longer be involved in high-profile projects.
He says: “I was proud of what I was doing. When he disappeared, I was in a hole. I have a hole to fill. »
Luckily, he has plenty of friends and followers who want him to succeed.
Hearing of his troubles last year, a group of fans raised money to help him get rid of hard drugs.
But he wants to reassure them, it is no longer necessary and the money will be returned.
James is supported by his father John in London, but he is still estranged from his mother Penelope, who lives in Australia.
More than two and a half years after Bob’s death, however, it’s clear the pain will never go away.
Even now, James still talks about his pet in the present tense, saying, “I’m so proud to be his owner.”
By once again stepping back from the abyss, he would also have made Bob proud.
James met Bob when the cat was roaming the streets of London[/caption]
