{"id":52985,"date":"2026-10-18T16:06:59","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T20:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=52985"},"modified":"2026-10-18T16:06:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T20:06:59","slug":"phil-collins-gets-candid-about-his-biggest-regret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/10\/phil-collins-gets-candid-about-his-biggest-regret.html","title":{"rendered":"Phil Collins Gets Candid About His Biggest Regret"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Featureflash Photo Agency \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Phil Collins is looking back on the personal cost of his decades-long music career, admitting that the collapse of his three marriages remains one of his biggest regrets.<\/p>\n

During a recent appearance on \u201cPiers Morgan Uncensored,\u201d the 75-year-old Genesis drummer and singer spoke candidly about his failed marriages, his five children and the years he spent away from home while building one of music\u2019s most successful careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo some extent, I have to say I regret my marriages falling apart,\u201d Collins said. \u201cSometimes I jumped. Well, one time I jumped, two times I was pushed. But I wouldn\u2019t have written it like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, Collins said he cannot look at those relationships only with regret because they gave him his children.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got five fantastic kids that I wouldn\u2019t have if that hadn\u2019t happened,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I have to balance it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collins was married to Andrea Bertorelli from 1975 to 1980, Jill Tavelman from 1984 to 1996 and Orianne Cevey from 1999 to 2006. He adopted Bertorelli\u2019s daughter, Joely, and is also the father of Simon, Lily, Nicholas and Mathew.<\/p>\n

When discussing his first marriage, Collins acknowledged that his demanding schedule with Genesis played a major role in pulling the relationship apart.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenesis did, in one year, I think, three American tours, two European tours, and a tour of Japan,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

After Collins separated from Bertorelli, he said his Genesis bandmates told him they would have changed their schedule if they had known what was happening at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s easy to say in retrospect,\u201d Collins said. \u201cI was gone, and we grew apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the breakdown of his marriages, Collins said he \u201calways tried to be there for the kids.\u201d He also stressed that he never imagined his life would include three marriages.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t go into life thinking that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

His relationship with daughter Lily Collins, star of Netflix\u2019s \u201cEmily in Paris,\u201d has included struggles of its own. In her 2017 memoir, \u201cUnfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me,\u201d Lily wrote openly about forgiving her father for times when she felt he was not there for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI forgive you for not always being there when I needed it, for not being the dad I expected,\u201d she wrote. \u201cI forgive the mistakes you made. And although it may seem like it\u2019s too late, it\u2019s not. There\u2019s still so much time to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearly a decade later, their public messages show a much warmer chapter in their relationship. Lily celebrated her father\u2019s 75th birthday in January, telling him, \u201cLove you to the moon and back again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Becoming a mother herself has also given Lily a new perspective. She welcomed daughter Tove with husband Charlie McDowell via surrogate in January 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow as a parent, I have a newly found understanding and deeper appreciation for everything you\u2019ve done and continue to do,\u201d Lily wrote in a Father\u2019s Day tribute. \u201cTove is lucky to call you Grandpa P.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Collins, the reflections reveal the complicated legacy of a career that brought extraordinary success while demanding significant time away from the people closest to him. Now, decades later, he appears willing to acknowledge both sides of that story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Phil Collins is looking back on the personal cost of his decades-long music career, admitting that the collapse of his three marriages remains one of his biggest regrets. During a recent appearance on \u201cPiers Morgan Uncensored,\u201d the 75-year-old Genesis drummer and singer spoke candidly about his failed marriages, his five children and the years he…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":462,"featured_media":52988,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"\nPhil Collins Gets Candid About His Biggest Regret<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At 75, the music legend is looking back at the choices that shaped his life\u2014and what he now wishes he had done differently.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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