I'm hyper light-sensitive and must sleep in the equivalent of a sealed tomb.

My dad and I have always been somewhat competitive.

I could always escape into this demi-monde of homosexuality, which I feel really indebted to. It stopped me being a 'mummy's boy.'

I made the decision to take on board the critical feedback. Reviews are something you can easily ignore as a performer or writer but I chose to not ignore them here and I think that I benefited. I think I'm stronger for it - and I have a tougher skin as a result.

In retrospect, I'm really shocked at how far I put my heart out there on the line with 'Prima Donna'. I seem to have this knack for being able to accomplish that.

When I was signed, at the age of 23...the fact that I presented myself as an out gay man was very, very unusual.

The more hedonistic you were, the better...I very much subscribed to that as a young artist.