George Michael blames Elton John for his recent problems

Speaking on this weekend’s Parkinson, George Michael has blamed his recent troubles on a comment Sir Elton John made two years ago - and the pressure to prove him wrong.

Elton claimed George was suffering from “deep-rooted unhappiness”, resulting from George’s arrest and subsequent coming-out in 1998.

“My trajectory in this soap opera started when Elton made those comments,” George explains.

“He hadn’t seen me for years and from that moment on I’ve suffered this kind of wishful thinking from the press.”

“I have to be honest. The subtext is, ‘He was all right before he came out and now he lives this depraved gay life and he’s miserable and he’s fat’.”"

“It’s a new angle because Elton said he thought I was really miserable for some reason and from that point on I’ve been trying to prove that I’m not.”