It's quite simple: I managed it by doing away with Wham!'s duo image. Obviously, the way I looked changed and that helped a little, but I still have a very pop image. It's a very video-friendly image. I find it a lot more real. It's a lot closer to who I am than the whole Wham! thing.

My parents both came from very poor working-class families.

I have no doubt that the music I release next will be better.

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.

When someone is always going to be there for you. I meet people like that all the time, but I have this unfortunate attraction to people I think I have to fight to become friends with.

It does bother me when they [tabloids] drag friends of mine into it and talk about them and lie about them. My friends have no part in it; they're not celebrities, so why should they have to accept the downside of celebrity? That worries me for a bit.

Obviously, [Wham!] made me a lot more comfortable as a musician. I was very confident that I would become a successful musician, but I had no idea I would be a celebrity.