Amy Winehouse’s brother claims that ultimately, it was her eating disorder that killed her rather than her substance abuse.

Alex Winehouse gave his first ever interview with the Observer Magazine and in it he claims that the singer had a long battle with bulimia which left her more susceptible.

“She would have died eventually, the way she was going, but what really killed her was the bulimia,” he claimed.

At the time, an inquest into her death found that Amy was more than five times over the legal drink-drive alcohol limit and that had been enough to leave her comatose.

Alex claims however that Amy’s bulimia, which she had suffered with since being a teenager, had left her weakened and less able to cope with substances, both legal and illegal.

“Had she not have had an eating disorder, she would have been physically stronger,” he continued.

Alex went on to speak about the start of Amy’s illness and talked about her having a group of friends who “were all doing it. They’d put loads of rich sauces on their food, scarf it down and throw it up. They stopped doing it, but Amy never really stopped.

“We all knew she was doing it but it’s almost impossible [to tackle], especially if you’re not talking about it.”

Alex, along with his father Mitch now run a foundation in Amy’s name to help people with substance abuse problems.