60-year-old Mitch told The Sun newspaper that he was visiting family in New York when his phone rang with the tragic news that Amy had passed away and he was surprisingly "cool as a cucumber":

"I was in New York when I found out. I was at my cousin's, cuddling his newborn babies. He had just been asking me how Amy was. I said she was fine — then my phone rang."

"It was Andrew, her security guard, in tears. He said something terrible had happened. Amy had died. I couldn't understand him at first. I was like ice. I was cool as a cucumber."

The initial shock led Mitch to question if it was all just a terrible joke and he added:

"I told him to tell me again. I was still holding the baby when he repeated what he had just said. I was in a terrible state of shock. I was just sitting there. The flight home was horrendous."

"In my mind, I was saying, 'Stop messing about, Amy'. She was a practical joker and I just hoped everyone had it wrong — even though I knew it was right. The joke had gone too far. It was horrible. I couldn't cry. I wasn't able to do anything. I was just numb."

Watch footage of Winehouse in the studio with Tony Bennett here: