ANGELS AND DEMONS

Peter Andre stares at the camera and flashes one of his winning smiles. Sat in the back of a blacked-out car, he is the vision of showbiz cool: his hair spiked with forensic precision and designer suit immaculately pressed, nothing is out of place.

Minutes later, he's joined by his beautiful children, Junior and Princess, who climb onto the seat behind him. Nestled between them is his stunning student girlfriend, Emily MacDonagh, who chuckles affectionately at the youngsters' jokes.

It's a heart-warming scene entirely in keeping with the singer's public image that every second is a photo opportunity – a snapshot that wouldn't look out of place on the pages of the glossy magazines he's adorned so many times before.

Except this is real life. His eyes sparkle with genuine happiness. And true to form, the perfectly composed pin-up soon crumbles into Peter Andre, the down-to-earth dad-of-two the public has come to adore. As seven-year-old Junior and Princess, five – the family he had with glamour girl Katie Price during their infamous four-year marriage – start discussing with excruciating honesty his new and blossoming love life, Peter curls with embarrassment.

Begging them to stop talking with Emily just inches away, Princess tells him in a way only a five-year-old could: 'You do love my Mum but you love Emily more.' 'Yes, yes, yes, you love Emily more,' his son pipes up, grinning at the red-faced couple. And as defeated Peter drops his head in his hands and groans: 'Oh dear Lord, I'm going to have a heart attack!', angelic-looking Junior pulls out his trump card and announces triumphantly: 'My Dad doesn't want to marry my mum, only Emily!'

From the mortified look on Peter's face it's clearly something he hadn't planned to discuss just a few months into his fledgling relationship, much less on camera in front of the 1.3 million fans who have tuned in to watch the latest ITV2 series of Peter Andre – My Life.

Medical student Emily – who was a family friend for two years before they started dating and is referred to by Princess as her 'best friend' – collapses into a fit of giggles.

Life is clearly good for Peter and it's unlikely just three years previously he could have imagined himself at the centre of such a happy scene.

In 2009 he walked out on his marriage to reality TV star Katie Price after a tumultuous six years and two children together. While she reverted to partying and dating a series of men before marrying cross-dressing cage fighter Alex Reid a year later, Peter spoke only of his distress at their divorce and his desire to protect their family, including Katie's eldest son, mentally and physically disabled Harvey.

'I believe marriage is for life and this has left me utterly devastated,' he said at the time.

It was clear both of them were knocked for six by their split but were dealing with it in very different ways. But for Peter, with over 20 years in show business it was obvious overcoming hard times had become second nature to him.

It would be fair to say even to this day that for every positive twist in Peter's 40 years of life – the first record deal, the emergence of 'Peter Andre' the nineties pop star, the fairytale wedding to Katie Price and his romance with Emily, an intelligent trainee doctor 16 years his junior – there was seemingly a turn for the worse ...

The failed marriage, his very public divorce, the impending court cases, rows over custody of his children and latterly the loss of his beloved eldest brother Andrew to cancer.

And that was just what he was famous for. His seemingly unrelenting 'glass half full' attitude also hid a multitude of dark secrets behind closed doors.

It's a little known fact, Peter James Andrea – as he was born – was raised a Jehovah's Witness in a tough suburb of London and while his parents worked tirelessly to provide a loving home, his childhood was strict, orderly and sometimes frightening.

When the Greek Cypriot family moved to Australia when Peter was six, he was racially abused, later threatened by gangs and as a pop star in his 20s even endured terrifying death threats. By the time he reached adulthood and at the height of his fame Peter had become a master of concealment as he performed to thousands of fans while suffering crippling panic attacks which became so bad he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.

But throughout all the good, the bad and every twist and turn, there have been two constants in his life which he has continually drawn strength from: music and his close-knit family.

From an early age writing music and performing became his form of therapy and a way of escaping from the pressures life kept throwing at him. His family, meanwhile, has always been the glue that held him together and helped propel Peter to become the star, and now father, he always dreamed of being.

In 2012, his toughest year yet and five months before Andrew lost his nine-month battle with kidney cancer, Peter admitted he was never going to let life's difficulties get the better of him.

'The last year has been all about fighting for me. Fighting to give myself and my kids a future, fighting all my fears, fighting for my brother ...' he told the Sun newspaper.

And whatever his future held, the twice-crowned Dad Of The Year was adamant that along with his family, he would face every challenge head-on. 'Family is No. 1 to me and I was definitely brought up to believe that. Of course I do worry about my children and my family, but with everything else in life, I just think whatever happens, happens.'

In Peter's case, despite his gleaming smile and infectious laugh, a surprising amount has happened in his 40 years of life.

And if we go right back to the beginning – and to pinch the name of his latest 2012 album – there seem to have been a fair amount of angels and demons along the way.

GROWING PAINS

Many have come to regard Peter Andre as the perfect portrait of a family man. His children, he has admitted many times over, are his life and every important decision is made with them at the forefront of his mind. Even while going through one of the toughest divorces in showbiz history to Katie Price, critics were stunned at Pete's ability to remain tight-lipped to protect those dearest to him. While the former Page 3 girl dealt with the split by clubbing and dating a string of new men, those closest to the couple knew that Pete's only way of survival was to stay close to his roots and look to his family for support.

So it's no surprise that his favourite childhood memory still...