George Michael has said he is “very ashamed” his drug-and-driving related arrest last October.

In a London courtroom on Tuesday, George pleaded guilty to the charge of driving while unfit, after he was found slumped at the wheel of his car in the early hours one night last autumn.

He has now said: “I did something very stupid and I am very ashamed since doing it. I’m not used to defending myself in a position where I am ashamed of something.”

“If I had known the day after the charge was brought the legal option of accepting a punishment without taking responsibility for something I felt I was not guilty to, I could have saved everyone here a lot of time and trouble. But I genuinely believe I only knew the full possibility of this in the last week and as soon as I took on [my lawyer] I realized I had been in a combination of misinformation and shame for about eight months.”

George will be sentenced later this month.