I thought [first girlfriend] was trying to make a fool out of me. Then I found out that she wasn't, and we went out. That's a very good example of how little confidence I had.

Things that I was writing for Wham! were a strong indication of what my future album would be like. But most people got so lost in our image and found it pretty repulsive.

You'd be surprised how young 25-year-old girls can sound when they want to scream. It isn't that young an audience, and it really frustrates me when I read the word "prepubescent" in my reviews. Even the ones that started following me with Wham! are in their late teens by now.

We [with Andrew Ridgeley] didn't expect people to take it seriously. But naturally they did, and they thought we were a couple of wankers.

Take back your picture in a frame. Take back your singing in the rain. I just hope you understand sometimes the clothes do not make the man.

I truly believed that tonight would never happen, that I would never sing these songs to you again. But then I'm a fool, which you've probably worked out by now.

I want the people who came to listen to have a good time as well. So it's a matter of playing a control game when all I really want to do is go out there and sing.