In 2011, Amy Winehouse performed with her goddaughter. Three days later, she was found dead.

Dionne Bromfield was just six years old when she first met Amy Winehouse.

Her mother, Julie Din, who worked in the British music industry, couldn't get a babysitter. So she brought Bromfield to work with her.

Before long, Bromfield and Winehouse had bonded. 

Watch a clip from Amy Winehouse & Me: Dionne’s Story below. Post continues after video.

"[Our relationship] was very sweet, very innocent, and very honest," Bromfield told Mamamia.

"I was probably the youngest person around her, and I guess she could just be herself around me," she continued.

"I would never look at her as the outside world looked at her. I guess adults were aware of her status and magnitude, which sometimes changes your friendships and stuff. But I guess, with me... I didn’t really look at her as Amy with the beehive and the eyeliner."

As Bromfield and Winehouse grew closer, the musician became Bromfield's honorary godmother. The duo would go for walks, watch Countdown, do mini facials, and even cook together.

To Bromfield, Winehouse was one of her biggest supporters in life. And when she began showing an interest in music, Winehouse took her under her wing, taking on the role of music mentor.

"She supported me so much. I wouldn’t be talking to you if it wasn’t for her," Bromfield told Mamamia.

"I was singing with her one day and she was like, 'You can really sing.' And then she slowly started really pushing me in studio sessions and teaching me about writing and teaching me how to play guitar."

A few years later, when Winehouse launched her own record label, Lioness Records, Bromfield was the first artist that Winehouse signed.

Amy Winehouse and Dionne Bromfield on September 25, 2008. Image: Getty. 

"I remember being sat in a lawyer’s office when I was 12 and I was like, 'I don’t even have a signature,'" Bromfield recalled.

Over the years, the duo only sang together publicly twice.

The first time was on British reality contest Strictly Come Dancing in late 2009, when Bromfield was just 13 years old. Bromfield performed a cover of The Shirelles' 1960s hit 'Mama Said', while Winehouse appeared as a backing vocalist.

Two years later, Bromfield performed at London's Roundhouse as a support act for British-Irish boy band The Wanted. Unexpectedly, Winehouse joined her on stage.

"Everything felt really, really good," Bromfield recalled in Amy Winehouse & Me: Dionne’s Story.

"I said to her that night, 'I’m so thankful for everything you’ve done for me.' I’d never, ever said it to her before – I thought she just knew. But that night, specifically, I felt the need to say it. And I’m so happy I did."

Unbeknownst to Bromfield – and the world – it would be Winehouse's last ever public performance.

Just three days later, on July 23, 2011, Amy Winehouse passed away from alcohol poisoning. She was just 27 years old.

Amy Winehouse performs at Lollapalooza in 2007. Image: Getty.

At the time, Bromfield was waiting to go on stage in Wales, where she was supporting The Wanted once again.

"You don’t really get a lot of phone service there and no one really knew that she had passed," Bromfield explained.

"But then all of a sudden, one of the people that I was working with got a call. And after that, he broke the news to me," she said.

"It was three days since I’d last seen her, and she was so good three days prior, so it didn’t really register."

Bromfield ended up performing that night. She sang for 20 minutes, rather than her usual half-hour set, before immediately leaving Wales.

"It was really hard for me because I hadn’t really ever experienced a loss like that in my life," the now 25-year-old said. 

"I was only 15, and Amy was like a sister to me. When you lose someone that’s so impactful in your life, especially in the simple moments of growing up, it really affects you."

In the years that followed, Bromfield struggled with the intense media attention that Winehouse's death received. Fans would often message Bromfield to tell her how much they loved Winehouse. 

Amy Winehouse and Dionne Bromfield. Image: Getty. 

"I used to get really annoyed when people would ask about her or when her fans would DM me. It was too much. It’s almost like you can’t get away from it," she admitted.

"Now that I look at it, I’m happy that people still think about her or play her music because she was incredible, and she deserves to be remembered for the incredible artist that she was."

For almost a decade, Bromfield struggled to talk about her relationship with Winehouse. 

She also didn't sing for several years afterwards, and she couldn't listen to Winehouse's music. 

But this year, she decided she was ready to talk. She wanted the world to see a different side to Amy Winehouse. And that's exactly what she did in her new documentary, Amy Winehouse & Me: Dionne’s Story.

"I felt like there was a side to Amy that hadn’t been shown before and I really wanted to get that across. I think my relationship with her was just so unique and special," she said.

"The second reason [why I wanted to do the documentary] was for myself. Her passing really did affect me and I didn’t handle it as well as maybe I could have handled it."

In the new documentary, Bromfield spoke to a grief counsellor and Winehouse's personal assistant, Jevan Levy. She also opened up to her best friends about her grief.

 Dionne Bromfield in 2020. Image: Getty. 

"When I found out that Amy had died... my world crumbled. I shut down," she said in the documentary.

"Since Amy died, I have hardly spoken about her. Even to those closest to me. But now, 10 years on, I feel like I need to confront my feelings and open up. This is the first time in 10 years that I'll properly talk about it."

For Bromfield, the experience has been healing.

"It wasn’t until doing this documentary that I realised how much I paused that whole moment in my life. And I needed to kind of play it again to be able to realise why I feel like this," she said.

"I just can’t tell you how therapeutic it was. I’m really happy because I feel really at peace with that whole time now."

Amy Winehouse & Me: Dionne’s Story premieres Saturday, August 28 on MTV And Paramount+.

Feature Image: Instagram.

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