It’s simply got to the point where I felt I was being pulled in different directions – and I didn’t like it. Lots of things were being done without asking me so I had to stop it dead and wait for a period.

I’ve always been recording, but I didn’t want to release anything until I felt right doing it again.

I was lined up to do lots of things and I just decided to get away from it and go on holiday for a year.

Because when I go away on holiday I like to go away with people I like going away with. I enjoy my holidays with George and that’s who I thought I was going with, but when I got there there were five other people that I didn’t want to see at all. I ended up sitting in my bedroom for two weeks!

I cut my hair because I wanted to. I gradually change every day because the word changes every five seconds.

Just because I haven’t done anything recently people still see me as a pink transvestite with puffs of pink glitter coming out of me!

I’m not like that, that was an act for that time. It was right for then, but it’s not right for now.

I kept saying that I was going to do mine and he said he was going to do his. I immediately went and took mine off and later on that evening he cut all his off.

I beat him to it by a few hours, but it was all done on the same day.

No. I got a bit waylaid for a while and I didn’t realise what was going on, but now I’ve had time to sit and think about things and I know exactly where my musical strengths lie.

Very. Extremely happy.

Yes, because I’ve admired some of his work in the past. I liked the sound of it and thought he could do something for my songs.

The reason I was depressed in a couple of my earlier interviews was because I got to New York and I realised that I’d been tricked.

I was in New York to record my video and I asked if I could shoot it in this club. The owner phoned up all the newspapers telling them I was doing a live show and charging 15 dollars to get in.

I was asking them for a favour and they saw a potential moneymaking scheme and used me to make lots of money. I didn’t get a penny out of it. The conned people into thinking that they were going to see a live show, which they weren’t. It was just me shooting my video and having a party.

The whole thing just made me look like an arsehole. That’s why I got upset because it was just dawning on me that I was being used for other people’s gains.

The only reason I buy the Sun newspaper is when I can’t afford bog roll!

The girl from the Sun rang me up that day after I went off stage and asked me to tell her what happened.

I said "Look, I’ve given you two interviews before, a year ago, and you completely twisted every word I said to you. You made me look an arsehole and you ruined what could potentially have been one of my best friendships with somebody. If you think I’m going to give you an interview now you’re off your rocker!

The next day I read all that rubbish that bitch had written about me. She made me look an arsehole because I didn’t give her an interview. They just wrote any old rubbish about me running off stage crying.

I mean, I’ve sung in front of Princess Anne at the Royal Charity Performance, I hardly think a few New York night clubbers are going to upset me very much.

I was upset because they were making lots of money out of me and I wasn’t giving a proper show to the people who were paying the money.

Most of the people who write stupid things about me haven’t met me and they’re quite entitled to their own opinions. I know that I’m very strong and I’ve got my own opinions about myself and my music.

I think I’ve got very firm moral beliefs and if someone wants to slag them off then they obviously haven’t got many of their own.

I think so. I mean it was very difficult for both of us. We were under a lot of pressure from a lot of different angles and we both have got very different lives.

It’s very difficult to keep an element of honesty when there’s lots of people interfering.

Yeah, later on.

Bob Geldof phoned me up and said do you want to come along and sing to raise money for Ethiopia. I said ‘Is the money going to Ethiopia’ and he said ‘Yes, we’re going to make sure’.

I said ‘Fine, I’ll see you tomorrow’.

I was quite pleased actually, as I’ve got nothing to say to any of those people anyway. The people that spoke to me were the people I liked.

I sat with Paul Weller and spoke to Bananarama, Paul Young, George, Jon Moss…

I eat fish. I have my weaknesses just like everybody else. I mean, if someone gave me a plate of chicken one day and I was really hungry then I’m gonna eat the chicken.

Morrissey keeps asking to do some records with me but I don’t want to work with anybody else at the moment, until I’m confident my music is as good as it can be.

I’m sure I’ll take up his offer one day though.

Diana Ross. I’ve been calling her up for quite a long time now and I called her up a couple of weeks ago when I was in New York.

She sent a helicopter for me the next day and she flew me out to Pennsylvania. I spent the whole day and night there. I played her my album and she might manage me in America.

I’m not planning a comeback because I haven’t been anywhere.

My plan for the next year is to do what I do best. It’s always been the same, I just do what I feel best doing/