Debbie Harry says she does all her ‘flirting’ in Home Depot
Debbie Harry has revealed that Home Depot is her chosen location for flirting with “big, strong men” who work in the garden department.
The 79-year-old Blondie singer, who rose to fame in the Seventies with songs including “Rapture” and “One Way or Another”, made the admission while recalling a recent trip to Home Depot – the US equivalent of B&Q in the UK – where she saw a “really sexy” man and gave him a suggestive look.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Harry said: “I found somebody there I thought was really sexy. He was working in the garden department. But he was busy.”
Asked by the interviewer whether she got a chance to communicate with the Home Depot employee, she said: “No. We just sort of looked at each other and did that …”
Journalist Julia Llewelyn Smith then remarked that Harry gave her a look “that could spark forest fires”.
Harry continued: “Home Depot is where I do all my flirting. There are some big, strong men there.”
The “Heart of Glass” star is currently single, she confirmed. She was previously in a relationship with her former bandmate and co-writer Chris Stein; the pair split in 1987.
When asked by Llewelyn Smith whether she was in a relationship, Harry responded: “No! God forbid! I’m terrified. No, I’m kidding, but I don’t think [being in a relationship] is possible. Do you?”
Harry admitted she wasn’t sure how the opportunities would arise, but would perhaps consider online dating.
“I had a friend who was an avid practitioner of online dating and she met a terrific guy. But I don’t know if I’m in the right position to be dating online.”
Llewelyn Smith then informed her that there is a celebrity dating app called Raya, that she could use.
“OK, OK, I’ll do it!” Harry said. “And I’m going to get back in touch and let you know how it went. I’m definitely not so adventurous as I was, but I’m still curious. I like the way the world spins.”
Harry was hugely popular on the New York social scene in the late Seventies and Eighties, frequenting Studio 54 with figures such as Andy Warhol, Truman Capote and Paloma Picasso.
While Harry and Stein were together, they were both dealing with heroin addiction, and Stein had an autoimmune condition that caused severe illness.
The pair were then hit by a huge bill for unpaid tax, the result of bad management, resulting in their possessions and Manhattan townhouse being seized by the Internal Revenue Service. The pair split in 1987, with Stein going on to marry and have children with Barbara Sicuranza in 1999.
Speaking about that period, Harry told the publication: “Those were tough times. But they were also very creative. Creativity and chaos often go hand in hand.”
Blondie reformed in 1997 and achieved a No 1 single in the UK with “Maria”. Recently, they embarked on a 2023 UK tour and performed at Glastonbury Festival.
Asked what her younger self would have thought of a septuagenarian musician fronting a festival, Harry replied: “She woulda thought, ‘Send the old b**** back!’ I was a snotty little ageist thing.”
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