In the wake of fresh crackdowns on unlawful file-sharing, Peter Andre has announced that he personally has no problem with people making digital copies of his work and trading them online. “If the people want to hear my work, who am I to stand in their way?” he said. “I sang ‘Gimme Little Sign’ for the fans, not for the money.”

The 34-year-old singer/songwriter, who currently resides in England, has lashed out at greedy record executives for trying to deny potential fans easy access to his back catalogue. “What these studio fatcats don’t realise is that it’s all about brand extension,” said the ARIA award-winner. “Prohibited downloads often lead to increased album purchases. Maybe they should be thinking less about legal action and more about that Funky Junky: The Best Of Peter idea I pitched them last month.”

Andre re-entered the public consciousness courtesy of his glamour model wife Katie ‘Jordan’ Price, who he met on B-grade reality TV show I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! in 2004. The pair subsequently recorded a duet of ‘A Whole New World’, ironic downloads of which first alerted Andre to the potential of viral marketing. 

Following the launch of British series Katie & Peter: The Next Chapter, Andre has been quietly optimistic about making a musical comeback: “Programs like Family Guy and Futurama have been renewed years after their cancellation, thanks to a groundswell of grassroots support on the internet. Maybe the same thing can happen for me.”

“Check out the comments on YouTube. Someone said the Mysterious Girl filmclip is ‘still da best!!!’. You can’t buy that kind of publicity – not while Molly Meldrum’s refusing to return my calls.”