JW: "...it's about eighteen minutes to eleven o'clock so..er..if you have any frends who are massive George Michael fans and you haven't heard yet or they haven't heard get on the phone right now and tell them to stick the radio on straight away cos er..we've got him for an hour..or so..maybe 2 hours..I don't know 2 more hours of the show. George Michael is on the show you can spend you're morning er..with him here on Radio 1"

GM: "Actually if you're a huge George Michael fan you probably don't have any friends so it doesn't matter..especially if you're watching this show..if you're listening to this show and you're a huge George Michael fan you probably have no friends at all"

JW: (laughing)"Right George we've had some reactions to er..people guessing what the song's all about..FREEEK..um..this is someone who said..oh Rob and Gaz in Weymouth said "it's about intrnet porn sites"

GM: "Uh huh"

JW: "alright that's one take..er..Scotty said "I thought it was about George liking a bit of internet rough""

GM: (laughs)

JW: "..er..Tom in Nottingham "falsification and a kind of shallowness very good in this respect because it kind of operates on 2 levels really well and..er..an awesome video"..says Tom..erm..This is Kim she said "hi George this is a song about the de-personalisation of relationships via new technology"

GM: "Uh huh"

JW: "Yeah he's nodding and uh..he's not giving anything away yet..and er..This is from Sue in Briley Hill "I think FREEEK is all about being a dominant person in a relationship""

GM: (laughs)"Oh my god! Don't tell Kenny that"

JW: "errrr..and this is something that Kev said.."

GM: "Yeah Kenny gets subjected to all those video outfits when I get home of an evening"

JW: "Does he real...(laughs)he insisted you have to take them home?"

GM: "I'M HOME!!"

JW: "HONEY!!"

GM: (laughs)

JW: "Kev said "Is the huge muscle body portraying that people want to be like that..er..therefore people want to be freaks?""

GM: "Uh huh"

JW: "I suspect that that's not right but you're going to tell us now?"

GM: "No. I think..I think we should wait and see if anyone..actually it's not that they're way off it woud be nice to find somone who gets a little bit more..bit closer to the mark"

JW: "Ok so none of those..none of those..are particularly on it so..er..any other ideas?"

GM: "They're not mi..not way off they're just a bit general"

JW: "Ok..alright.."

GM: (laughs)

JW: "..get secific 07764100100 that's the text..er..you can ring if you like 08700100100 and you know the e-mail address. So you're looking good at the moment?

GM: "Oh thank you"

JW: "Fit and healthy?"

GM: "I was..oh i'm fit and healthy I don't expect to be looking good because I've been in the studio for so long I haven't had a haircut for three weeks which is why I'm wearing the hat"

JW: "That's why the hats on"

GM: "Thats why the hat's on"

JW: "and it's a Sean John hat as well"

GM: "It is indeed..I shouldn't..I shouldn't.."

JW: "Did you pay for it? Did you pay for it?"

GM: "I know I shouldn't wear it..actually no somebody bought it for me in LA..I know I shouldn't wear it because they use fur in some of these things but I just like..the um..the hat"

JW: "Don't you think it's bizarre how all these models are suddenly..um..wearing fur on the catwalks after you know 2 or 3 years ago?"

GM: "er..I think..to be honest..to be honest I think it's really annoying..that I'm sorry but..a couple of..you know 2 or 3 kind of queeny designers decide it's ok again and suddenly the world listens. I think it's disgusting..I don't..there are certain things that..that I can make some sense of them reversing from the time that I was young but this one I just don't understand"

JW: "no I think it's bizarre"

GM: "absolutely yeah"

JW: "It's like something with complete abscence of memory at all"

GM: "yeah"

JW: "um..so..in the studio working on the album. So that's going to be out when? Couple of months time?"

GM: "um..no. I think the albums going to be out in November"

JW: "You're aiming for November?"

GM: "Yeah I'm aiming for November and I think for me to get it out in November I..I don't even get ano..a week off between now and then"

JW: "You won't see daylight at all?"

GM: "No I don't think so"

JW: "Ok so how many tracks have you actually recorded?"

GM: "Well we've recorded..I mean I've been working on this album for the best part of five years really..um..I think..what a lot of people think is that I sit around and do nothing in between making records but actually the truth is I find it much harder to make records these days and it takes.."

JW: "Why? What do you reckon?"

GM: "I think..I think..I honestly believe that the reason most people don't maintain a career beyond a certain point is that I think when you first come into the business there is some essence there is some..um..there's something that draws people to what you do and that..and that that..and there's a freedom at the beginning of your career you kind of really are in contact with whatever it is you're supposed to be saying to people..and..I think as you get older and as your life seperates you from people which it does if you're a celebrity for a long time there's no denying that"

JW: "I as gonna say you..you just becme removed from what people are going through"

GM:"I think..I think..I think it's very much the case that people who surround themselves with their..their..um..career as it were and with people who are gonna tell them..you know..that they're..basically sycophants..I think to enclose yourself in a little..er..environment where everything is about you and..and really concentrate on being a celebrity..I think you lose that essence."

JW: "So have you lost it in the past..have you blinked three times when you think now you've lost yourself completely in showbusiness?"

GM: "I think the difference is between myself and maybe a lot of other artists is that I am so self critical of what I do and i'm so..so much a perfectionist in some ways that I only..I know that there are only those moments where you come into contact with..with what it is that you really do become rarer as you get older..um..and I think as an artist..er..it's not that I sit back and wait for them I work through it..I work for years through it but I literally..I know when that spark happens and it's happening more regularly now but it's.."

JW: "So what are you writing about? What do you have to write about?"

GM: "Well it's intersting because I don't..I don't have a great deal to write about being happy..er..and balanced and feeling as good as I do actually because I have a fantastic relationship I have things in my life that I never thought I'd have erm..and I'm not talking about the things that I initially wanted the fame, the attention whatever"

JW: "So?"

GM: "So I think really that an album talking about me right now would be really boring I could write a bunch of love songs for Kenny but I don't really want to do that..um..cos he.."

JW: "Have you done that already?"

GM: "Oh no! He knows hw much I love him anyway and actually.."

JW: "But he must sometimes go "you never write about me George""

GM: "Well actually the very first time we met I wrote a song..there's a B-side..it's a really beautifull song actually there's a B-side um..on the old..on one of the..I think the Older EP er..called Safe which I wrote about him literally 3 or 4 weeks after I met him"

JW: "So that's it?" (laughs)

GM: "That's it..and he wasn't that impressed by that anyway"

JW: "Don't ask for anymore Kenny" (laughs)

GM: "Yeah it's not like he asked to listen to it repeatedly or anything so..he's so dis interested it's hysterical actually"

JW: "What in your career?"

GM: "Oh God!"

JW: "Really?"

GM: "He's not..he likes..like today he's excited because he'll find out at the end of the day how many I've sold he likes charts and sales and things like that because he's in business you know and he's a..he's a director at a big company. But actually you know..i mean..like I worked for four and a half months on FREEEK..on the video and er..I literally had to drag him into the room to sit him down to watch it"

JW: "and what was his reaction?"

GM: "Oh he loved it! But basically Kenny will love things as much as everyone else does. He'll wait and see what everyone else thinks"

JW: "So if they start sticking the knife in he goes "yeah I don't think it was your best period George""

GM: "Well no he'll just be quiet but you know..I know..put it this way if this album turns out to be as big a record as I think it's gonna be he'll love it because then he'll know the rest of the world loves it"

JW: "He doesn't want to go against the flow"

GM: "It's not..he doesn't have a huge interest in music and..and er..and he doesn't want to upset me ither way so he keeps his mouth shut a lot of the time"

JW: "Sensible lad..alright then we'll talk more in just a little while about the album and everything else..we'll play this first..you'll like this this is Streets"

JW: "George Michael my special guest today..for virtually the whole of the show..George..um..Madonna?

GM: "Uh huh"

JW: "Yeah..you were..you were saying the other day that you've been encountering her working on her new album and stuff"

GM: "Oh yeah she's been down at the studio..she's been working at Sarm where I've..you know that's where I've always worked..um..she's been down there just doing some demos I think for her new album but I was just saying the kids were running around. What beautifull kids she's got"

JW: "Really?"

GM: "Ohhhhhhh..absolutely incredible"

JW: "That doesn't surprise me. Why did I say really like that. That doesn't surprise me at all"

GM: "But the funny thing is that if you..if you..see..uh..what's his?..Rocco is it?"

JW: "Yeah..the little kid..yeah"

GM: "If you see Rocco you would not know that was Madonna's baby"

JW: "Looks like Guy?"

GM: "He looks so like Guy it's incredible"

JW: "yeah"

GM: "and then you see Lourdes and she looks exactly like Madonna but a little darker"

JW: "So you didn't kinda..you didn't sneak in and listen to any of the stuff?"

GM: "I did yeah..what she's doing with Mirwaves"

JW: "You did great..so what's it sounding like?"

GM: "It was sounding great but it was just demos so I couldn't..it wasn't that they were doing anything..she explained to me that the way they do it is kind of they write the song and he takes it away and does all his amazing.."

JW: "yeah"

GM: "..you know..amazing magic tricks"

JW: "and he is amazing Mirwaves absolutely amazing"

GM: "Oh it's amazing..amazing..i think..i mean..you know ultimately i think the best..um..the best thing about French..er..production is they've kind of taught everyone to use broadstrokes again you know? Not to be afraid of..er..machinery and to re-use it with it's best energy"

JW: "So you haven't worked with Mirwaves have you?"

GM: "No..no i've not worked with him"

JW: "Been tempted at all?"

GM: "Not really I mean to be honest in terms of the French thing Daft Punk I approached five years ago"

JW: "I thought..I thought there was a rumour going around that you'd worked with Daft Punk"

GM: "Well I now know them I mean we worked together last year we did some work towards the..er..album and actually..er..Thomas..one of the 2 guys has had some real heavy personal stuff going on so that kind of got interupted a bit..but then we met again last week and we're probably still gonna do something for this album but whatever we'll do something at some point because we're friends now..um.."

JW: "Yeah..but you do pretty much all the production on your own don't you?"

GM: "Yeah but I mean I knew with this album I wanted to collaborate simply because I'm kind of bored of..you know?"

JW: "Yeah I imagine you need sombody to come in just to excite you again"

GM: "To be honest I think it's the result of me having a little bit more confidence than I used to and in the old days I think my ego demanded that I do everything"

JW: "Um"

GM: "..and demanded that people know that and then I kind of worked out after about 15 years that most people didn't even know that I produced my own stuff let alone whether I did it on my own"(laughs)

JW: "So it was kind of pointless" (laughs)

GM: "So..but no..that wasn't really..i mean it was really just a need to do it all myself and to feel responsible for every piece of music but..um..ultimately er..i got bored..ultimately i'm kind of....i'm not bored with what I do as a writer but i felt like..i've always been a slave to my songs and i kinda now wanna..I wanted this new record to be..i wanted to put as much into the production as i do into the song writing and i..and thats a longer process and i thought in terms of collaboration it would just make it more interesting for me"

JW: "So can you take criticism if you did have an outside producer come in and sort of..?"

GM: "Oh god yeah!"

JW: "You can?"

GM: "I can take any amount of constructive criticism. It's like..um..I rea..i mean..i don't..i'm sorry..there are very few actual mucisians..artists who do not read their reviews..there might be plenty of celebrities hat don't but there are not that many"

JW: "Oh really is that the way you divide it then?"

GM: "yeah..yeah"

JW: "because i've heard a lot of people say "I just don't read the papers anymore, I don't read reviews"

GM: "Yeah well people say that and they're talking..I mean I'm sorry they're talking out of their arses most people will look for reviews because you want feedback on the actual where you are going with your music and even though you don't trust most of the feedback what I look for is a relatively..anything that really slates you can be put to one side, anything that really praises you you could and should put to one side. If it's one sided praise..if it's all praise..as an artist anyway..but what you look for is people who make a relatively..who seem to have an objective opinion that don't have an agenda either pro or against you and within those..and they're around..within those you can find some guidance you know..because you should always be loking to improve what you do"

JW: "yeah"

GM: "but the only person who's gonna help you do that is an objective opinion and there are very few objective critics out there any more but there is a few"

JW: "Who else are you working with on the album?"

GM: "Um..well I'm doing um..most of it myself again but for instance with FREEEK um..the Moogymen..the guys that i've been working with on this album we've actually been..the Moogymen and John Douglas who produced Fastlove with and Spinning The Wheel with me..and myself have been literally..we spent 5 years trying to get a sound together and for me really to get over my mother to be really honest and in the last year it's all come together and..and i'm so excited it's gonna be..i think it's by far gonna be my best record in terms of..in terms of 'up' pop music you know..i mean older i think.."

JW: "Was it difficult to make up..i mean you talk about after your mother"

GM: "Uh huh"

JW: "Was that..was that it..that it just completely changed your view..and..?"

GM: "Well..the thing..i think what would have misled some of my fans is that after um..is that..um..when I did Parkinson after that whole arrest business i looked so kind of on..on..on form again and in reality I think it's very..very strange but with hindsight even though I don't necessarily..i don't think it was as deliberate maybe as some people thought it was but I think with hindsight I did it to myself and I tried to work out why"

JW: "Did what to yourself"

GM: "The arrest..I mean I was being pleased I mean I was fuc..I'm sorry..I was lying..I was I was laying sunbathing for god's sake in a..in a park opposite The Beverly Hills hotel. I wasn't exactly..er..you know it was..but anyway.."

JW: "So you were asking to be caught out..it was.."

GM: "So I kind of..yeah..and I was trying to work out why I would do that to myself and it certainly wasn't because I wanted to be outed in that way and I worked out that what it was was I wanted my life..I knew I would have to defend myself..

JW: "yeah"

GM: "..and i'd gone through losing my mother, I'd gone through losing a partner before that I'd had a lot of difficult stuff go on and my life had not been about me forever..and suddenly I think..I think it was a way of making me fight for my own..it was a way of making my life about me and for six months it worked. I had to fight, I had to make the video, I had to make the single, I had to finish the greatest hits, I did the Parkinson interview and actually in reality when you saw me on the Parkinson interview I was doing well..but I was..

JW: "You were very positive"(can't hear some words)

GM: "Yeah..I was doing very well but very soon after that and after that Christmas I just sank again and I went..and I went through the rest of the period that I spent greiving for my mother which was actually in reality about 4 years and..and I was very impatient with myself all the way through that, thought I should be over it, couldn't understand why my writing wasn't coming together, was very tough on myself but actually you know that's..I think that's what it was about..about making my life about me and for that moment in time it worked for about six months my life was about me and then suddenly it was all about her again bless her..you know"

JW: "Ok..are you through it now? How are you?"

GM: "Oh yeah I mean now..I..I can't tell you..I mean I literally have never felt stronger in my life and it's the way I felt..to be honest I felt this way and in this kind of recovery er..just before my mother died and I'd met Kenny and I was over losing my partner..my initial partner"

JW: "Ancelmo"

GM: "Ancelmo..and er..basically er..I feel like that again like I can take on the world again..you know..and I think that shows in this record and I just pray to God that I get a nice clear run and good luck"

JW: "As long as you don't mess it up"

GM: "Did you hear that?"

JW: "You want to talk about Oasis right?"

GM: "You heard that..oh great..I'd love to talk about Oasis"

JW: "No, no, no, no..er..that was Star???? (sorry can't hear name of band maybe somebody else knows) you were just saying you're a big fan of"

GM: "Yeah 'm a huge fan what's the..what's the.. what's the name..is it James?"

JW: "James Walsh yeah"

GM: "I think he's a great great singer and great writer. I think because they're so young it's hard to tell whether..my feeling is that they could if they do something a little less derivative which would be..you know..as they get older..I think he's a huge huge huge star"

JW: "Big talent and Chris Martin from Coldplay as well"

GM: "Yeah absolutely those are my 2 favorite kinda writers and live singers at the moment..amazing"

JW: "Ok and Oasis..you've got a minute on Oasis"

GM: "..minute on Oasis..er..Oasis"

JW: "I'm gonna sit back through this one"

GM: "Ok..Oasis the most amazing band probably I've seen live with the possible exception of U2 and ridiculous the critics made one member of Oasis feel that they were the whole of Oasis and he promptly des..he promptly wrecked the best band that we've had in twenty years when really it was a chemistry..amazing chemistry. They should never have got rid of the drummer in the first place..the best album is the first album even the second album although a massive album was not as good an album as the first album..and he gradually got rid of the band"

JW: "Currently then?"

GM: "Currently I think..I like Hindu Times but I think it's depressing..I think years ago it wouldn't have been a B-side and I think..It's really depressing to look at something that was as inspirational as Oasis in 1993 or even 91 actually"

JW: "Yeah when they first came out"

GM: "91 yeah..in 91..see something as inspirational as that and then hear something ten years later that could have been made at the exact same time"

JW: "Ok and that's your minute..that's very good as well"

GM: "There you go"

JW: "Good for time..we like that..um..let me.."

GM: "Did I repeat any words?..there were no buzzes?"

JW: "Yeah if only I'd had my buzzer there..about your single right..FREEEK..John from Southampton says "Is it about paedophilia, I think it is, It has to be""

GM: "UHHHHHH"

JW: "Uhhhh..and er..Lisa Woolbridge in Brighton said "In his video he represents the internet in the style of Big Brother kitted out as er..the Lawnmower man enticing people onto the net to explore their sexual perversions"

GM: "That's kinda closeish"

JW: "Go on then tell us"

GM: "It wasn't actually inspired as much by the nternet as by watching late night TV.."

JW: "Right"

GM: "..because I'll be really honest with you..I mean I've been working solidly for years..I'm just like everybody else..I get stuck in front of my Sky Digital box and you can watch kind of reasonably good rubbish all night if you want which is..so I'm..I..I do..I've had a very quiet life making this record. I make the record um..and watch a lot of telly..and er..and the truth is when you see the culture..sometimes watching late night TV culture you really feel like..at my age anyway you feel like the worlds gone mad right?"

JW: "Right because of what?..What are you..?"

GM: "Because I think that..I..I think it's absolutely ludicrous I mean I don't you know..this is really odd because I've been attacked by the people that would normally agree with me but my feeling when I thought of the song I wanted..I wanted it to represent the victory of commerce and er..the victory of commerce and certain types of commerce around sex over all of us in other words there is so much money involved I wanted FREEEK to sound like this kind of steamroller of sex that you couldn't get out of it's way and.."

JW: "That we're just being bombarded by it all the time"

GM: "Yeah and my main..my main..my main feeling is that this is..I don't think it's a bad thing for adults I think we're living.."

JW: "What because it's kind of lightened people up and loosened up their attitudes"

GM: "Yeah I think the British especially..we're still..we don't..It's amazing.. how the attitude of some..you know..miserable old cow in the 1800's or 1900's..Victoria right?"

JW: "yeah"

GM: "Her husband dies and the rest of the contry has to go into mourning with her and we all suddenly are not supposed to enjoy sex in the slightest right because.."

JW: "So you think that's lingered?"

GM: "I actually believe that's affected..my mother had some very victorian ideas that actually I know now looking back..I know affected my views on my sexuality and it seems ludicrous to me that it takes hundreds of years to work it's way outside..out of a culture but the truth is that's what's happening now and in the last 5-10 years since the de-regulation of TV we've had this huge throwing off of inhibition which I think is really good for adults"

JW: "Well for people that are liberated but.."

GM: "Yes..but adults are liberated but what we're totally ignoring is the average child has a TV in their room from between the age of about 10-11 right and I'm sorry but if I was 14 years old now I'd be asleep for the full..full first half of my school day and I'd have a right wrist that could ..you know could probably break steel"

JW: "Oh right"

GM: "You know..I mean..I just would because I'd be a..you know..a 13, 14 year old boy..that's how you are anyway..um..and..so having that kind of access.."

JW: "So having that type of opportunity is that negative then?"

GM: "Well you see..I don't think it's negative..no sex is not negative to me everything is about sex and a good approach to sex is central to so many things..I think for politics to everything but..but to be shown areas of fetishism and extremes of sex when you are young naturally means that as you get older your idea of extremes are gonna be more extreme right? So my feeling is this..we have this huge thing going on..this huge sexual revolution and that even one generation down kids that are literally ten years different in age..you know..people that were ten years away from one another will think totally differently about the extremes of sex. So in my mind it..this is not supposed to be 'oh get your televisions out of your bedroom' or it's..it's not Mary Whitehouse thing..I'm thinking..my mind..I'm thinking where does that actually end? Because I feel like the likes of Rupert Murdoch understand that what they need to sell to the modern world is primal..primal feelings. They can sell us sex, they can sell us comedy, they can sell us sport. It's things that we are losing.. primal feelings in our own lives that they are injecting back into our lives with television..right.."

JW: "Yeah..so is there a solution is this what you..can you..or..you're just offering a reflection..an observation"

GM: "No..it's an observation that actually in the future right now watching TV there are things you know are being advertised with sex that have no real connection with sex but it's the only way to get people's attention so if you take that to it's ultimate conclusion if you imagine that the guy in the red suit.."

JW: "You're pretty raunchy yourself..or the stuff that you've done in the past has been kind of pushing boundaries"

GM: "Yeah but none of it's..but..I don't think any of it's been unhealthy and I don't think that..that um..and I think that the actual things that I've been accused of in the video..kind of degredation of women for instance are very..what..what makes me laugh is I'm portraying a 38 year old man with an average audience of about 30-32 right..um..and I'm being attacked for doing something which is not aimed at kids when actually everything that is aimed of kids is directly subversive and is talking about now. I thought the first 15 seconds of the video showing this kind of Bladeruneresque thing..that was the directors idea..I thought Ok so you're letting people know this is the future, it's not my stance on now. It's a very dark vision of the future. I find it amazing that I can sing lines like 'come on kids don't be scared it's a tits and arse world you gotta be prepared' and people think I mean that? They don't think 'Oh what's he trying to say'? They think 'Oh George Michael wants kids to get involved with sex'. It's like everybody..you know..are we this bad now? Are we this lazy you know?"

JW: "OK George"

GM: "Believe me I do not think kids should be rushing towards the internet"

JW: "Gareth Gates the er..current single..George we have to talk about this one really"

GM: "Ha ha ha"

JW: "Do you want to do a quick review of the Gareth Gates single..you were just saying.."

GM: "Ah no I don't want to do a review.."

JW: "No not a review ok"

GM: "..bless him..do you know what I mean..I mean the guys gonna have a fantastic week and let him get on with that and have a fantastic week"

JW: "Ok, you did send him a bottle of Champagne didn't you?"

GM: "I did yeah..I did um..of course the thing that they said I wrote was not even what I wrote"

JW: "No! Really?"

GM: "..because Simon whassisname?"

JW: "Cowell"

GM: "Cowell?..er..did the um..did the usual thing even though the note..I sent him a bottle of bubbly and a note that was three lines long and even that..he took the three lines long and changed it to what he thought would work better for their purposes you know..I'm not even gonna say..but I basically..it was a support....."

JW: "Are you saying he's a manipulator..is that what you're saying?"

GM: "Oooh oooh! Gosh the beard!

JW: "What did you say then?"

GM: "I just said to him..I just said er..congratulations, have a great week at No 1 you deserve it for the courage you've shown and I thanked him for singing a couple of my songs on Pop Idol..I hadn't seen it..but I thanked him and said I was very touched you know?"

JW: "So are you disappointed not to have a No 1 then..or potentially not to have a No 1?"

GM: "Potentially.. (laughs) Potentially I don't..I'd have to..you know..I mean there are miracles and there are miracles..that would be like the parting of the Red sea..I'm sorry..but the thing that I've had..what I've had to live with.."

JW: "So you're not disappointed then?"

GM: "Oh no I'm not disappointed so much. I actually think the Pop Idol thing from my point of view..um..from my point of view it's been quiet healthy I just kinda sat back and waited for people to make the obvious references because it just hap..I mean I swear even when that Pop Idol thing was going on..when the show was going on..it just didn't occur to me that there was going to be this massive record again..like the Heresay thing at the end of it and that I should get out of the way..It just didn't occur to me."

JW: "At what point did it occur to you?"

GM: "Er..well when they said it was coming out on the same day"

JW: "But then did you not say Ok we'll move it?"

GM: "No. No."

JW: "Why?"

GM: "Because..because ultimately you know..there's a reas..I have a reason for wanting this release to be now in terms of building before the album..and I've..you know..I've got a lot of No 1's under my belt and I've..and I'll tell you what's really interesting that no one has picked up on.."

JW: "Go on"

GM: "..is that if I..I mean actually even if the Gareth record and the Will Young record were numbers 1 and 2 and I was 3 um..that would make me runner up right?..If I'm No 2 or I'm No 3 I'm runner up. I have been runner up..George Michael has been runner up to the three biggest singles of all time in the English charts."

JW: "Right? Which are?"

GM: "Which are Elton-Candle in the wind, Band Aid-Do they know it's Christmas. Elton was the 'You have been loved'..the song I wrote..Band Aid it was 'Last Christmas' and this time I will be Pop Idol..so basically I'm runner up."

JW: "Runner up is a position you enjoy then I guess?"

GM: "Well actually..excuse me?..Story of my life..doesn't matter how hard I work, how fast I run, I'm always staring at someone's arse"

JW: "Erm..were you surprised when Will announced he was gay..when he came out?"

GM: "Was I surprised?..Oh I don't want to be insulting but you know..but about as surprised as people were with me probably you know..and they'd had like eighteen years to work on it"

JW: "You must have had a certain empathy for him then..or with him"

GM: "Erm..yeah..of course..I'm very impressed that he did it er..I'm very impressed that he did it. I think it's great that..that..erm..I think for a start I think it was fairly obvious that he might have been gay and the fact that he was..he might have been gay and he was very obviously middle class..I found that very encouraging that the general population erm..gave him the nod really because I think it means that they're not resentful that he already..was not necessarilly as hard up as some of the people on the show"

JW: "yeah"

GM: "Er..I think the whole thing..you know most people would be..do you want me to keep this short as well?"

JW: "Yeah keep this short but um..make sense as well"

GM: "er..keep this short..I'll do it in text"

JW: "Go on"

GM: "Erm..no I just think the whole thing...."

JW: "There's so much to talk about I just have to keep you..er..."

GM: "Yeah..I think this bit..this is..this is er..I tell you what play another record and ask me again what I think of the whole Pop Idol situation"

JW: "Alright..ok..well I'll put on Marilyn Manson as well she's another of your competitors this week isn't she?"

JW: "...George Michael who is our special guest on the show today er..Tainted Love from Marilyn Manson then"

GM: "I loved the way you put your finger up to your lips there saying 'don't say anything else we'll have to talk about it, you'll get me caught again'"

JW: "No you can say what you like"

GM: "Actually I hope Noel Gallagher heard that Oasis slag off because he was so nasty about me"

JW: "Was he?"

GM: "Yeah he said he thought that most of his gay friends, like he's got loads, thought I was disgusting. Nice!"

JW: "Really?"

GM: "I presume he means the gay guy in Ocean Colour Scene because I can't see him..."

JW: "Oh yeah"

GM: "..I can't see Noel Gallagher having a bunch of nellies around his house every night"

JW: "But you never know"

GM: "Disgusting (can't hear word) stuff"

JW: "So would you take him to task if you saw him in the pub?"

GM: "Oh absolutely"

JW: "Good..alright..so Marilyn Manson did you like it or not like it?"

GM: "Er..I didn't particularly like that..I like some of Marilyn Manson actually and when I heard the beginning of it I was really encouraged..I thought..and when I saw the video I heard the beginning and thought this is pretty kind of..pretty kind of almost funky as well..and then it gets into it and it's more.."

JW: "I think he's done better things"

GM: "Yeah"

JW: "Ok then"

GM: "Pop Idol"

JW: "Let's talk about Pop Idol but concisely"

GM: "Concisely..alright what do I think about Pop Idol?..er..I'm not half as horrified a musician as most people would think I am..I don't think it's got very much to do with the music industry at all"

JW: "What other industry?"

GM: "Well it's other than..it's to do with Saturday night entertainment isn't it? But the only thing it has in..in..in relation with the music industry is that the music industry can't really afford much more of this we're at a very cr..um..difficult..we're at a crisis stage in terms of people buying records..people actually erm.."

JW: "In what way?"

GM: "Well the singles market is dying um..In general we need to inject something so that we can export music again er..and bring the money back into the country"

JW: "What is the answer?"

GM: "So the answer is er..to turn this interactivity..because it's not about..I don't think it's about music..it's about interactivity..8 million people calling for something like Pop Idol is about interactivity not music and I think we need to turn this interactivity to something more positive. We know that people want to do it, we know that people are looking for a reason to show their opinion as a community, why don't we do something a little more constructive? And on the musical level what I would say is that I think that either the BBC or Channel 4 should ma..have their own version of Pop Idol which doesn't start with the er..obligatory humiliation of people who think they can be famous..just starts with a much more ambitious panel and something like ten..anywhere between five and ten signed acts but acts which are not exposed in any way..acts which if they are exposed are accessible"

JW: "But would anybody..people watch it?..Nobody.."

GM: "No but you wouldn't..you wouldn't want 8 million people voting"

JW: "No"

GM: "But you could actually, out of it, give exposure to bands that cannot be heard right now"

JW: "I'm all for that but nobody watches the programs..."(can't hear last bit)

GM: "We just don't make it very highbrow"

JW: "Oh ok"

GM: "..because excuse me you don't have to get a lot more highbrow you know..it's not difficult is it?..to make it more highbrow?"

JW: "No. I know"

GM: "So you make it more highbrow and actually out of it you could get a band that does something for all of us..that actually have a career as opposed to a six um..month period where a lot of people around them try to make a bunch of money"

JW: "Do you worry about the people who take part in things like Pop Idol?"

GM: "Yeah..I would say"

JW: "You could say it's just vanity really" (can't hear this statement properly)

GM: "I think it's..I think they only need to look at what's gone on in other similar situations to know the public can be very brutal. I'd give them one very strong piece of advice which is that..it is possible to weather the storm but if you're have..going to have any chance of weathering the storm what you need to do is make sure that the advice that you're getting is disconnected completely from the people immediately around you i.e. the people involved with that show"

JW: "Right"

GM: "If you have any..but I would say to both of them um.."

JW: "To Gareth and Will?"

GM: "Yeah I'd say to Gareth and Will that you have to understand that much as it's nice to believe different, the people in your immediate..in your immediate vicinity do not have your best interests at heart and that if you need legal advice..or advice..musical advice on your future..things like that you need to find it from someone who is a..is a..is a non-involved party because the people immediately around you see you as a quick way to make some money"

JW: "And ultimately you could just end up as a damaged soul?"

GM: "Well exactly you've got to somehow prepare yourself for that as a possibility and..and..and really understand that you should enjoy this period of time and if you're..try to survive it but don't look to the people immediately close to you for how to survive it"

JW: "...before that it was Missy Elliot and 'For My People' er..George Michael still here we've had reinforcements now coffee and everything we just keep going forever"

GM: "We talked about..we talked about that a minute ago didn't we? Can you imagine if I released a song that went 'This is for my people, my ecstasy people, C'mon!'..with a big E on the screen?"

JW: "Now you're sounding hard done by, you think that people like to stick the boot in? Is that what it's like being George Michael?"

GM: "Yeah it is a kind of..but I'm not..I'm not complaining about it because the people that complain are always the kind of people that I want to wind up.."

JW: "Right"

GM: "..and they do me a favor don't they? I mean to be..to be still supposedly so subversive in the current climate I..I do..I do have to wonder whether they now think that the sexual opinions of anybody openly gay should be questioned"

JW: "Really?"

GM: "Yeah..I do yeah. I mean I've read a couple of things ..there was a piece in 'The Scotsman'..um..so..the homophobia was so veiled but it was all about you know (puts on scots accent) 'basically he's a pervert and he should stay at home' you know?"

JW: "So really no one's kind of moved on much and we're not particularly more enlightened?"

GM: "Well no I think we are..I think we are..I think we are but I still think there are things to worry about, you know, as far as the gay community is concerned and I do think we're only being accepted on a certain level..on the kind of Elton and David..you know er..as long as you're being nice and acting like straight people"

JW: "As long as you don't have sex then that's alright?"

GM: "Yeah as long as we can't imagine you having sex you'll be fine"

JW: "As long as you're neuted..yeah..ok..right listen..want to do the test with you. There's obviously a lot to talk about so feel free to just give me one word answers with this and to be very concise with all these answers yeah?"

GM: "Yeah sure"

JW: "Ok fine..I'm not bossing you around am I?"

GM: "No"

JW: "Not much"

GM: "No it's not that..It's not that you think I'm..it's not that I'm boring people to death or anything"

JW: "You're not boring people to death at all"

GM: (laughs)

JW: "George. Honest"

GM: (snores)

JW: "Right. What's one thing you can't live without?"

GM: "Er..Kenny, music. Equally important"

JW: "You're offered cameos on 'Sex and the City' and 'The Simpsons' but the network says you can only do one. Which one would you do?"

GM: "Er..oh God..that's a hard one because I love both those shows"

JW: "I knew you would"

GM: "Oh really hard..sorry..I'd have to say 'Sex and the City'"

JW: "I thought you might"

GM: "I might get to meet Mr. Big"

JW: "Your partner Kenny says that he really, really, really wants to go on 'Celebrity Who Wants to be a Millionaire?', the couples edition winning money for charity"

GM: (laughs)"That's really going to happen"

JW: "It might"

GM: "Oh!..Winning money for charity?"

JW: "Yeah of course..yeah"

GM: "Of course..um..would I do it? No. Of course not"

JW: "No?"

GM: "Oh for charity actually maybe..I like 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire I think I might'nt do it but for charity I might actually yeah"

JW: "Yeah..you do like 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire'?"

GM: "Yeah I do. I like the last five minutes but I can't be bothered with the..you know..'What's four times four thank you you've won a hundred pounds'"

JW: "Ok..What are your other favourite TV shows at the moment?"

GM: "Erm..favourite TV shows..'The Office' and 'Rock Profile'"

JW: "Ah right, so you do laugh at yourself?"

GM: "Oh God I love 'Rock Profile I think they've been really easy on me actually"

JW: "Yeah?"

GM: "..really easy"

JW: "That's a challenge for them"

GM: "..I've been..I've been watching for about 2 years..you know they've started it on 'Play UK' and I saw the first one about Gary Barlow living in the hostel in..in..somewhere in Wales and I was just wetting myself, it's so wicked"

JW: "And when you saw them doing you?"

GM: "Um..well I was terrified actually but then I thought they kinda did alright..the one with me and Geri I thought was hysterical"

JW: "Yeah"

GM: "Sometimes I think you're my bestest friend"

JW: "Right well..which leads me on to this. 'This is your Life' asks you if you'll appear as a guest on a show that they're doing for Geri Halliwell"

GM: "Say that again?"

JW: "'This is your Life' asks you if you'll appear as a guest on a 'This is your Life' for Geri. Would you go on?"

GM: "Er..no because I went on for Martin and it would look like they'd roped me in again. Otherwise yeah..I think"

JW: "Is she still a mate? What happened?"

GM: "Yeah..well the truth..the real truth is you know..Geri's a lovely girl and she's really..in some ways she's a really really remarkable person. It's really very difficult to maintain a relationship with someone who lives for the press..not in a bad way..she..she..she's very much..she's kind of a victim of that. It's very hard to hang out with someone who likes the press when you spend your whole life running away from them"

JW: "Um"

GM: "You know I mean she's..we haven't fallen out"

JW: "Well the rumours were that you felt you were being used by her in a way"

GM: "No! No absolutely not and ultimately if I'd been worried about..about er..what she would have got out of publicity with me then I wouldn't have ever, ever approached her..and I approached her"

JW: "So why did you approach her?"

GM: "I approached her when um..when the 'Spice Girls' split because I'd met her a couple of times and we'd both recently lost a parent and because she's good company you know?..and I..I was drawn to her um..the truth is you know we don't see much of each other she's off all around the pl..and you know I've been making this record for a year..so she's come down to the studio a few times..people would love to think..the press would love to think right now that she has no friends but she still has friends and er..ultimately one thing I would like to make clear is that Geri has never listened to one piece of advice I have ever given her"

JW: "So it's a..(can't hear)..situation there?"

GM: "Ok..so you can imagine..you can imagine Geri coming to me and saying er..well actually I'm going to turn up at the Brits walking out of a big fanny and er..and it'll have a Union Jack on it and of course my immediate reaction to that would be..of course be 'oh great idea'..No, obviously I'm gonna go 'don't do that' right?..but she does anyway and bless her she got loads of publicity and she knew what she was doing"

JW: "So what do you know?"

GM: "What the hell do I know? She thinks I'm a music snob and therefore why should she not walk out of a huge..you know..(can't hear)"

JW: "Obviously..her and Kenny get on brilliantly..um..have you ever lost your temper with a fan or a member of the press..I mean really anytime really, really lost it..big time?"

GM: "Er..press yeah..the press have got a picture of me in the eighties where I attacked a photographer and I'd pushed him up against a wall and basically did..I was about to whack him one and I..and I calmed down and they got a moment..they got this real moment as I turned and I just looked like Lucifer"

JW: "Scary"

GM: "I'm so furious at this..and I was only about 22 and I didn't used to lose my temper much and so when it happened it really happened and er.."

JW: "Must have been not very nice to look at?"

GM: "..and it was fantastic they had a picture in the next day..in the paper they had a little picture of this guy going 'I will never buy his records again' not realising that he's still got the 'Nikon' strap around his..his..his neck..like he's just happened to have had a huge 'Nikon' with him and he's a big fan of mine"

JW: "Ok..um..which next? How often do people ask to duet with you? Do you get offers all the time from people?"

GM: "I've had incredible offers over the years I've said no to lots and lots of people"

JW: "Go on"

GM: "Not because I don't admire them but just because I don't think our voices would work well together"

JW: "Like who?"

GM: "I can't even tell you it would be embarrasing to them to be honest..so I wouldn't tell you.."

JW: "Ok"

GM: "...but I've had..I'll tell you one..I'll mouth one at you you wouldn't believe right?"

JW: "Really? And why?"

GM: "I swear. I swear"

JW: "No. That one wouldn't have worked actually"

GM: "No. Exactly and I knew that but he was being pushed into it by somebody who thought it was in his best interests"

JW: "Yeah..I can imagine record company machinations..Yeah..um..You see one of your recently burgled items for sale on E-bay. Would you bid for it? because you had a theft didn't you?"

GM: "One of my recently burgled items?..I'll tell you what I would bid for. Sombody nicked a computer out of the studio..somebody walked into the studio and walked out with 5 years worth of stuff which thank god has been backed up"

JW: "Yeah?"

GM: "But I don't think that they kn..someone out there has got my entire album on a G4 Mac..I'm telling you"

JW: "And they're oblivious"

GM: "And they're oblivious yeah or they just think it's a bit crap because they haven't given it to anyone yet"

JW: "Probably down at Camden market. If you go down to Camden you'll find it on a stall somewhere"

GM: "Along with one of those bags that Sarah said I look like in my video"

JW: "Yeah"

GM: "(can't hear properly)...Camden bags"

JW: "And a female friend who's single but wants kids asks you to be her doner. Would you?"

GM: "No. Absolutely not"

JW: "No? Do You not want kids? You and Kenny at all?"

GM: "Er..I'm very..you know what?..I'm very aware of what I'm missing the truth of the matter for me is I think that a child should grow up with 2 parents whether they..you know..I'm not sure about the whole issue of gay adoption er..etc..and I would have no..no justification in talking about it because I haven't thought about it"

JW: "Um"

GM: "Um..but I'd.. I er..I do know that um..I'm missing a lot by not having kids but I have a lot else in my life to make up for it and i'll tell you one thing..I have a..I have a motto.."

JW: "Yeah?"

GM: "..which is if you're never gonna know the joy of children make sure you know the joy of sex"

JW: "That's true?"

GM: "It's true. It's true. It's true."

JW: "Tell us finally..it's frivilous but we end it..very interview on this. What's the most you've ever spent on an item of clothing? At the moment we've got (can't hear) on 20 quid..Madge 12 grand. Can you beat that?"

GM: "Honest truth?..honst truth..honest truth..the most I've ever spent on a piece of clothing I think was 1700 pounds and you know why I did it?..because I was staying..I was staying with Gianni Versace right?..as you do..and the honest truth was that I'd been invited there..I didn't know them I'd been invited to stay on Lake Como at this amazing place when I was on the 'Faith' tour and so Gianni came to some shows whatever and I was there with him and Donatella and they kept saying to me 'you've got to come down to the showroom..you've gotta'..I'm thinking ooooh you know? ooooh I'm going to get..you know?..something free?..but being me I didn't take advantage and kinda run arond the store picking up things. I just picked one really nice thing which was a suede jacket..and they gave me like a 20% discount and i'd picked this 2 grand..and I was like ' I don't need a discount, I thought it was a gift Gianni?..anyway so having spent this 1700 quid the next day I'm walking through Milan airport and the..and the woman at the..at the immigration desk asked me for my autgraph. I'm wearing ths lovely pale suede..this is mid-eighties remember.."

JW: "Yeah ok"

GM: "..lovely pale suede er..Versace jacket. I sign her autograph and stick my arm in a pad of red indelible ink and ruin the jacket forever. So I bought it under duress for 1700 quid and then ruined it the next day..there you go."

JW: "Life's a bitch. Finally I have to ask you about live. When are you going to be performing live? What are you going to be doing?"

GM: "Next year. Next year. I think I wanna..I'm gonna do a live show that's gonna blow everything you've seen recently away"

JW: "So keep those FREEEK outfits"

GM: "I'm actualy thinking of trying to have something maybe for the encore that's actually like a more wearable version of the big kinda red..not the Camden bag..the er..big red suit. I think I could..."

JW: "Don't forget to get Geri's advice on how to make your stage entrance as well"

GM: "Yeah absolutely. Absolutely" (laughs)

JW: "You'll make a grand entrance. Thank you very much indeed"

GM: "Thank you very much. I've had a really nice time"

JW: "You will come into the live lounge and perform for me or do something like that?..do something special for us?"

GM: "I might come in and strip for you"

JW: "You'll come in and strip?"

GM: "Live strip..Yeah."

JW: "You can get a pole"

GM: "..because that could be acoustic"