I made a fortune with A Street Cat Named Bob and met Kate Middleton – then I went back on heroin and hit rock bottom
STANDING in a room surrounded by images of Bob the street cat, tears well up in James Bowen’s eyes as he holds an urn containing the ashes of his beloved pet.
Together they met Kate Middleton, toured the world first-class, sold nine million books and made two movies.
Fans from North America to Asia had been swept up in the heart-warming story of how a stray ginger cat helped the homeless busker to give up drugs.
On social media people couldn’t get enough of videos of Bob high-fiving passers-by as he perched on James’s shoulder.
But when Bob was knocked down and killed by a speeding driver in June 2020, that fairytale turned into a nightmare.
Tormented with grief by the loss of “the love of my life”, James found himself in a “hole” he needed to fill.
The author reveals for the first time that he chose to fill it with the drugs which had almost killed him before.
The 43-year-old Londoner says: “When Bob passed away, he was the love of my life.
“He was my best friend and I was wailing in pain and sorrow for months on end.
“I remember feeling suicidal. I felt I wanted it to end. I started looking for an escape again and I started using heroin once more.”
Gradually, James got hooked on the class-A drug which kills more people than any other illegal substance in Britain.
It cost him his planned marriage to fiancée Monika Hertes and almost his “sanity”.
By last summer he was taking heroin every day and was back to the state he was in before he met Bob.
Cold turkey on Bangkok streets
James was racked by guilt for letting down his family and friends, and the thousands of fans still following his social media pages.
Most of all, he knew he had let down Bob.
“I wouldn’t have gone on the heroin if he had been around,” James tells The Sun.
Finally, at the end of last year, he decided to quit.
The plan was to go to a rehabilitation centre in Thailand, but when he got there in November James discovered there had been a mix-up about the funding and he had to leave after only two days.
The next thing James knew, he was going “cold turkey” on the streets of capital city Bangkok.
And even though his hip bones had crumbled due to all the years sleeping rough in London, this proved to be his toughest moment.
James says: “I ended up doing a straight-up detox on the streets of Bangkok. It was the hardest thing I have ever done.”
All alone in a foreign land, he had no painkillers and no money for anywhere to stay.
“I had sweats, cramps — hot and cold, never comfortable. The headaches are the worst,” he explains.
Realising he could not cope on the bustling city’s incredibly humid streets, James started messaging everyone he knew back home.
Remarkably, the first person to answer his Whatsapp call was actor Luke Treadaway. who played James in the two A Street Cat Named Bob films.
Luke, 38, who also portrayed Alex Higgins in the BBC snooker movie The Rack Pack and starred in Angelina’s Jolie’s film Unbroken, offered to help.
He provided the money James needed to stay at a backpackers’ hostel then buy a flight home.
The former Big Issue seller says of Luke: “How incredible he was, to be there for me after all this time.”
After four days and three nights detoxing in Bangkok, James knows he cannot make the same potentially fatal mistake again.
Since returning to his home in South London almost three months ago, he has not touched drugs again.
“It made me realise I screwed everything up and I needed to make it right,” James promises.
He knows that he needs a purpose in life.
His plan is to return to supporting organisations such as The Big Issue, which helps homeless people, and the Blue Cross pet charity.
James, who has released songs in the past, has a home studio where he is making more music — and there is also interest in him making a documentary series about living down and out.
He also wants to move from the detached £500,000 home “which Bob bought me” because it holds too many memories of the cat.
To many people, it might sound strange that one person’s hopes and dreams could be so inextricably linked to their pet, but there is little doubt that James had a remarkable connection with Bob.
The stray started following him everywhere shortly after he moved to a council flat in North London in 2007.
When Bob did not fancy walking, he would perch on James’s shoulder — and he stunned his owner with his level of intelligence.
James says: “Bob was a genius. He knew where the camera was, we had to put child locks on all the cupboards because of him.”
When they first met, James was on a methadone programme aimed at weaning him off opioids.
He credits the friendly feline with persuading him to stay off drugs.
That uplifting tale was turned into the best-selling book A Street Cat Named Bob in 2010, which sold more than a million copies in Britain and reached global best-seller lists.
James says: “Everywhere we went people queued to see us when we did book signings. Fonz star Henry Winkler queued for three hours to meet us at the Covent Garden Waterstones, I was told.
‘Bob’s soul held on until I was there’
“I felt that being in the public eye I was able to serve a purpose. Explaining where I came from.”
The pair visited Japan, Germany, Norway, Holland, Portugal, France and Canada, and met royalty at The Street Cat Named Bob premiere in 2016 attended by Kate, now Princess of Wales.
Bob played himself in the movie, with help from a few furry stand-ins.
James recalls: “She gave Bob a scratch by the ears. He knew he was in the presence of important people. We had a little chat. She does incredible work.”
The estimated £1million James earned from book sales meant he was able to buy his own home.
Finally settled, he met Monika in 2018 and they were planning to get hitched in 2020.
But Covid lockdown restrictions forced them to postpone the ceremony.
When Bob did not return home one night, the frantic couple went searching everywhere for him.
They learned that tragically he had been taken to a vet after being run over.
By the time James arrived, his most precious friend had been declared dead.
But he reveals: “His eyes were still open when I collected him from the vet’s.
“As I took him home, I believe his soul held on until I was there, then he closed his eyes.”
No one is certain how old Bob was, because James found him as a stray, but he was probably aged between 14 and 16.
James filled their home with new animals, including cats Bandit and Gizmo, both aged three, and a dog called Chewbacca, aged two.
They already had another cat named Jinxy, five, who has been known to do high-fives like Bob.
But neither the animals nor his wife-to-be were enough to shake the troubled musician out of his overwhelming grief.
He explains: “I picked up Bandit and Gizmo and they gave me a spring of hope, but once you are in that spiral it is hard to get out.
“I was failing my relationship. I didn’t want to cause her any grief, so I ended it with her.”
Like so many people who find sudden fame, it was also tough for James to no longer be involved with high-profile projects.
He says: “I was proud of what I was doing. When it disappeared, I was in a hole. I have a hole I need to fill.”
Thankfully, he does have a lot of friends and followers who want him to succeed.
Learning of his problems last year, a group of fans got some money together to help him kick hard drugs.
But he wants to reassure them it is no longer needed and the cash will be returned.
James is supported by his dad John in London, but he is still estranged from his mum Penelope, who lives in Australia.
More than two-and-a-half years after Bob’s death, though, it is clear the pain will never go away.
Even now, James still talks about his pet in the present tense, saying: “I am so proud to be his owner.”
By pulling himself back from the brink once more, he would have made Bob proud as well.