Pete Doherty says lawyers have 'taken all the good bits out' of his book

Pete Doherty joked that publishers have "taken all the good bits out" of his new memoir, as it had to be read by lawyers for the people involved.

The Libertines frontman tells stories about his life and the chaos of the indie music scene in London during the heyday of his career in the early noughties, including his tabloid-fuel romance with Kate Moss.

Read more: Pete Doherty credits cheese on toast for new look

The book, entitled A Likely Lad, was ghost-written by music memoir veteran Simon Spence based on lengthy chats between the writer and Doherty, but the rocker suggested there was juicy material on the cutting room floor.

"Everybody’s lawyer had to read it. Carl [Barât, of The Libertines] had a good look at it. Kate’s lawyers wanted to see it," Doherty told The Guardian.

He added: "I kept saying ‘you gotta keep that in, it’s funny’. But they kept saying ‘no, no, no.’

"Plus, my wife was a little bit concerned, but I said to her: ‘If you don’t read it and I don’t read it, we can just pretend it doesn’t exist.’ But that’s not how she does things."

Doherty also confessed he was surprised that the book was written in the first person, which he said differed from what he expected.

Read more: Pete Doherty hospitalised after hedgehog spike wound

He said: "The initial agreement was I would talk to him on the phone and it would be in the third person. But when the book arrived it was all ‘I’, ‘I’, ‘I’. It’s completely shocking."

In a statement to The Guardian, Doherty's literal agent said that the star "may have had reservations about this approach initially, but every word in the book is his".

Doherty has now put his days of partying and drugs behind him, living in Normandy with his wife Katia de Vidas — whom he married last year.

He said that both the isolation of the area and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic made it easier for him to avoid temptation with drugs, though he has not given up alcohol.

Read more: Pete Doherty arrested in France for second time

"It’s not a big drugs area here. Then, of course, everything stopped, said Doherty.

"So all the circumstances combined to make it easier to be clean, even for a conniving scoundrel like myself. It just wasn’t worth the aggravation."

He said his wife has been a positive influence too, given the fact she doesn't take drugs and is not a big drinker.

"I found I used much less when I was with her, because of that. And now it’s great. I’m a married man. And I take that very seriously," said Doherty.

As for his music career, Doherty has previously said that he believes he and the rest of The Libertines may be in a position to release new material this year.

Doherty's autobiography A Likely Lad is available to purchase from 16 June.

Watch: Pete Doherty hoping for new Libertines music this year