Boy George was asked about his criminal past on last night's I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.
The Culture Club singer, 61, was jailed in 2009 over an attack on Audun Carlsen, after he handcuffed the man to a wall during a drug-crazed night.
George pleaded not guilty to false imprisonment and has always denied a court claim he beat Audun with a chain, but he was convicted of assault and false imprisonment and jailed for 15 months.
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Boy George, real name George O’Dowd, has said he was high on cocaine and having a psychotic episode at the time of the attack and was released from prison after serving four months for good behaviour with an ankle tag. He sought treatment afterwards and has been drug-free since.
The incident arose in camp during scenes on Wednesday evening, as co-star Scarlette Douglas asked the pop icon about ‘some guy in handcuffs and a radiator’.
Boy George, whose mother is Irish, immediately insisted that was ‘not true’, saying: “It’s not true, no radiators.”
Scarlette replied: “Oh, just handcuffs,” and Boy George admitted that was true, adding: “But the radiator bit wasn’t true, but thanks for bringing it up.”
Scarlette said: “Sorry, it wouldn’t surprise me if that was a fake story.” Boy George replied: “Sometimes these things, they go into the ether, and people keep saying them and they become folklore.”
Boy George in the Bush Telegraph said: “Scarlette blatantly talked about my court case. I thought it was inappropriate what she did, actually.
“I thought she shouldn’t have said what she said to me. And I thought I handled it really well as it’s a big sore point for me when people say things like that.”
Boy George added in camp: “I think if it was true I wouldn’t be working now.” Scarlette said: “I don’t even know what the full story was, I just remember hearing handcuffs and radiator.”
Boy George replied: “Good job I know what the full story was. The best way to explain my thing, Scarlette, if I beat someone up there would be photographs. And there were none, because it didn’t happen.
“So when you beat someone up, the first thing the police do is take a photograph and they show them in court. There were no photos because I didn’t do that. But I did do one thing. I did handcuff him, yeah.
“Because I’d handcuffed the guy I’d already assaulted him. So, when I said ‘I did it’, I thought, I’ll tell the truth, they'll let me go home. I went to prison for four months. I was on tag for four months as well.”
He added: “Do you know what, people in prison were amazing to me. They loved me.”
Scarlette asked about his experience in prison, which Boy George described as ‘boring’, saying: “They thought I was going to be a total nightmare and when I wasn’t they literally thanked me when I left.”
It comes after Audun, 43, says he is haunted by the 2007 ordeal that landed George, 61, in jail. He says: “I still see the monster that he is every time I see him. It’s hurtful that ITV give him that platform.”
Angry Audun says George should not be on Celeb – let alone be its highest-paid star on a reported £500,000.
Branding George a “monster”, Audun, 43, says: “Had I been a woman and he did what he did, he would never have been given the platform. It’s hurtful that big organisations like ITV give him that platform.
“I think giving him this sort of platform and a record fee sends the wrong message to survivors of violence and abuse and is plain wrong.”
A spokesman for the star said: “George went to jail for four months willingly after openly confessing to false imprisonment during a psychotic break 15 years ago whilst in the midst of a well documented drug problem.
“Not only has he been a pillar of society ever since, but he also remains sober to this day.
“He apologised publicly on Piers Morgan’s life stories and we are very proud of him for his rehabilitation.
“Everyone is entitled to a second chance and George has certainly earned it.”
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