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George's documentary a 'Xmas present' to fans

George Michael

The former Wham! singer said the film was not a part of a promotional campaign but was a chance to offer fans an explanation as to why his career has been such a "stop, start process".

The notoriously publicity-shy singer said: "If someone has paid seven or eight pounds to see a film about me I can be fairly sure I am talking to fans."

Speaking ahead of the gala screening of the revealing new documentary in London the singer said the film was not an attempt to address some of the more garish" headlines that had been written about him but was simply a treat for fans in the run-up to Christmas.

He said he was persuaded to make the 95-minute film George Michael: A Different Story after Andrew Ridgeley who starred alongside him in the 1980s band agreed to talk on camera about their experiences for the first time in 20 years.

"I am so thrilled he agreed to take part. He is all over the movie. He is such a big part of my life.

"I think Andrew changed my life very, very positively," he said.

Reunion?

Asked whether a Wham! reunion was on the cards, Michael said the only reunion they had these days was when they played Wham! records to each other at his house.

But he ruled out the possibility of a stage comeback for the band.

The singer remained tight-lipped about his future career plans but that all his goals were musical.

"I do not have any intention to go off and do something different.

"I do not think you will see me on screen acting anytime soon," he said.

The candid film directed by Southan Morris documents Michael's life and career from his rise to fame as half of Wham! in the 1980's to the 1998 arrest for lewd conduct at a public toilet in Beverley Hills which finally forced his homosexuality into the public domain.

Interviews

It includes interviews with his partner of almost 10 years, Kenny Goss who speaks about who the pair met at a spa.

While Michael insisted that he had been open and honest throughout the film he said he did not think it was as revealing as Elton John's Tantrums and Tiaras.

He refused to comment on his plans to "marry" long-term partner Goss following the introduction of the Civil Partnership Act. Michael has previously said the pair plan to tie the knot early in the New Year with a "small, private ceremony".

In the film Michael talks emotionally about the pain of losing his Brazilian boyfriend Anselmo to aids in the early 1990s and the second blow of his mother's death shortly after he met Goss. He described the experience of recounting his ordeal as "cathartic" and said he was lucky to have "great friends and a great career to pull him through".

"I think it has been very cathartic. I have been able to put some of the hard times in a box and put them behind me," he said.

He added that X Factor contestants Shayne Ward had done well when he performed Careless Whisper on the show last Saturday. "It's a very, very hard song to sing but I thought he sang it well," he said.

In his 21-year career Michael has sold 85 million records worldwide, notching up six No.1 singles in the US, 11 in the UK and seeing seven albums hit the top spot.