Pop icon Boy George was one of the first celebs to enter the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here jungle - and is reported to be the highest paid camp member.
The Culture Club singer, real name George O’Dow, is best known for his hits such as 'Karma Chameleon' and 'Do You Really Want to Hurt Me', and has so far settled in and been getting along with his fellow campmates.
He's not been one to hold back though and he certainly doesn't mess about with his words. There's so far been very little drama with him Down Under, despite expressing his views on former health secretary Matt Hancock being in the jungle.
However, ITV bosses did come under fire for asking the singer to take part in the competition after he served time in prison following his conviction for false imprisonment back in 2009 during a drug-crazed night.
His victim was a Norwegian model and male escort called Audun Carlsen - Boy George is also alleged to have handcuffed him and beat him with a metal chain, something that he denies doing. When the case went to court, Audun told a jury that he was only able to get free after breaking the fixture.
In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Carlsen described what happened, saying: “He said he wanted to get milk. I heard him talking, I thought it was a neighbour. Then he asked me to come to the bedroom and there he was with another man.
“They jumped on me, kicked, dragged me along the floor. He handcuffed me to the wall and told the man to go, saying he’d deal with me from now on. The guy was there for 20 minutes. I was hooked to the wall for about half an hour. I was s*** scared.”
He added: “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.”
Boy George claimed that Carlsen had hacked his laptop. He was sentenced to 15 months behind bars, but was released on tag after four months due to good behaviour.
And on Wednesday night in the jungle, he was asked about his stint in jail by A Place In the Sun star Scarlette Douglas after she heard about ‘some guy in handcuffs and a radiator’.
Boy George 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 wasn't happy that Scarlette brought it up and went in the Bush Telegraph to vent. He 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.”
Scarlette asked about his experience in prison, which Boy George described as ‘boring’, and said: “Do you know what, people in prison were amazing to me. They loved me."
He added: “They thought I was going to be a total nightmare and when I wasn’t they literally thanked me when I left.”
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.”
Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily Showbiz newsletter here .
