George Michael

Richard Madeley has opened up on his friendship with George Michael as he reflected on the last year of the singer's life.

"The friendship went on until, I'm sad to say, we all lost him to drugs," he continued. "[On a] Sunday, I'm cooking the lunch I go and open the front door and it was like. In 1998, two decades after forming Wham! "In they came and we just had this amazing six or seven hours conversation. Richard admitted he'd "never forgotten" that moment and it was the "beginning of a friendship" with the singer. Talking about his friendship with the icon, Richard recalled a "surreal" moment with the singer.

GEORGE Michael's death on Christmas Day 2026 left friends, family and fans around the world devastated.One person who felt an enormous lost when the s.

I think they did the same with [[Michael] Jackson](https://www.thesun.ie/who/michael-jackson/), didn’t they? [Amy [Winehouse]](https://www.thesun.ie/who/amy-winehouse/) had passed away, they put that album out, you know what I mean? George’s complete body of work is his body of work. "Our mothers’ sort of crossed prams in the street and that was when we met. Our mothers were best friends. [George](https://www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/music/351587/george-michael-how-die-songs-boyfriend-fadi-fawaz/) was also close to the likes of Princess Diana and Kate Moss.

Outed is a two-part documentary on Channel 4 about George Michael that has some exclusive audios of the late British singer.

George said he was followed by a man when he reached a toilet block in Beverly Hills and the same man (undercover police officer) arrested him in his car. The views expressed here are that of the respective authors/ entities and do not represent the views of Economic Times (ET). [Kenny Goss](/topic/kenny-goss), the ex-partner of George tagged the singer as a tortured soul post-arrest during his later years. During his conversation with [Radio Times](/topic/radio-times), he recalled that from the moment he was arrested when they weren’t together, “there was always a little bit of me thinking, is he going to be ok?” George Michael: Outed is a documentary on the late British pop star that will thoroughly talk about the major happenings after he was accused of a public lewdness act. What happened after George's arrest?When George was brought into custody, officers were unaware of the fact that they were questioning an A-class celebrity.

This documentary on the pop star's arrest for a 'lewd act' shows an era so breathtakingly homophobic that the shaming of gay men was a blood sport – and his ...

Fleet Street was a brutally homophobic place where, as one ex-Daily Mirror journalist puts it, the “shirt-lifting jokes” came thick and fast and “if you were homosexual you had to keep it quiet”. “I’m still so proud of him for that.” Me too. This was (and clearly still is, for some) the world in which Wham! “All the signs were there.” The media made it impossible for Michael to come out, then had a field day mocking him for hiding after he was arrested. The kick-ass making-of-a-gay-icon stuff, when he singlehandedly turned the situation around with Outside, which remains the most gloriously proud screw-you disco hit in the history of pop, is saved for the second episode. Hardly the stuff of the scandal of the decade, but these were viciously homophobic times, as the first episode of this two-part documentary barely needs to reminds us.

This interview originally appeared in Radio Times magazine. Advertisement. “We met for lunch. We had this favourite place that George loved called Cynthia's ...

“He knew he had a voice and people would listen to him, and he helped a lot of gay men in the music industry to accept themselves and come out,” Andros says. “From the moment he was arrested, when he wasn’t with me, there was always a little bit of me, thinking, is he going to be OK? “It was a mistake, but probably a mistake that was meant to happen,” he says. “I was just trying to understand the situation and reassure George that everything would be OK,” is how he remembers the first 24 hours. Once again, in public, George was able to see the funny side, but the humour had become very dark. Kenny, who was with George for another 13 years, admits he spent a disproportionate amount of time worrying about his partner once the brakes were off. George said himself, “You can only be proud of your sexuality when it’s bringing you joy,” and for the first time it was. “George’s first solo number one A Different Corner was written about a guy that he was with, who couldn’t cope with the fame. It was 7th April 1998, and Kenny Goss was one of the very first people to get wind of a story that would soon fly across the world. George had a bottle of wine, maybe a bottle and a half, and I went off to do other things. Despite his good looks, his money, his talent, his superstardom, carrying around such a burden meant George for a long time never felt the personal contentment that was surely his due. “Within a few months, George had the demo for Careless Whisper, which I told him would be a number one record.

In Channel 4's documentary, friends speak with love and hacks brag about exposing the Wham! singer – but there's limited reflection.

He spoke about it in interviews and famously dressed as an LAPD cop in the video for his single Outside, which also featured some snazzy urinals. Michael worried about what his parents would think, and he also wanted to retain what privacy he could as one of the biggest pop stars in the world. Wallis said that the tabloids were simply “reflecting the moral panic that was out there”. days, and that subsequently coming out as gay when the world was gripped by panic about Aids would have been “devastating” for his career. “Zip Me Up Before You Go Go,” said the front page of The Sun, the day after Michael’s arrest. You could feel the adrenaline rising again in an ex-paparazzo as he recalled seeing

Channel 4 documentary delves into the fallout after the Wham! icon's 1998 arrest for lewd conduct in an LA public toilet.

His name is not uttered in the series and no explanation is offered for why, but it appears that he is making a separate documentary about the singer with Netflix. The absence of Andrew Ridgeley, the other half of Wham! His 1998 hit “Outside”, which transformed what the papers called his “shame” into a defining moment of gay liberation. Fleet Street was not a gay-friendly place at the time either, with one Sun journalist saying of Michael’s humiliation at the hands of the papers: “What did he expect?” There is a particularly icky moment when one paparazzo and one editor, almost drooling with excitement, reminisce about one of their car chases in pursuit of Michael, and their nine-page exposé on his cruising habits. The path he took, in the end, was the latter, but it all imploded in 1998 when he was arrested in a Los Angeles public toilet for “lewd conduct” (he was cruising for sex with men). The two-parter, which arrives seven years after Michael’s death aged 53, combines never-before broadcast audio of the singer with extensive interviews with his cousin Andros Georgiou and Michael’s long-time partner Kenny Goss.

THE late George Michael and his school pal Andrew Ridgeley took over the globe in the 80s with their pop band Wham!Together they sold millions of reco.

It’s difficult for everyone. [Shirlie Holliman](https://www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/music/1440322/martin-kemp-wife-shirlie-holliman-roman/), as well as Spandau Ballet star [Martin Kemp](https://www.thesun.ie/tv/439316/martin-kemp-worth-spandau-ballet-roman/) and George Michael's boyfriend, [Fadi Fawaz](https://www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/357007/fadi-fawaz-george-michael-boyfriend-death/). It’s difficult for me. [after his death on Christmas Day](https://www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/350816/george-michael-53-dies-peacefully-at-home-publicist-reveals/), legendary singer [George Michael was finally laid to rest](https://www.thesun.ie/news/365733/when-is-george-michaels-funeral-what-was-the-singers-cause-of-death-and-who-will-inherit-his-fortune/) in [North London](https://www.thesun.ie/where/north-london/), with Andrew among the guests. [sisters Melanie](https://www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/620888/george-michael-sisters-yioda-melanie-panayiotou-funeral/) and Panayiota. He reportedly amassed more than £10 million in royalties from his Wham! [George’s shock death](https://www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/music/356715/george-michael-cause-of-death/) on Christmas Day in 2016, Andrew [tweeted heartbroken tributes](https://www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/351018/george-michaels-wham-co-star-andrew-ridgeley-pays-tribute-to-his-beloved-friend/) to his friend and former bandmate, using the nickname “Yog” (Yours Only George). [Daily Mirror](http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/george-michaels-bandmate-andrew-ridgeley-9907155) that the [delay of George’s funeral had been difficult](https://www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/music/629148/distressed-andrew-ridgeley-opens-up-about-losing-wham-bandmate-george-michael-and-how-funeral-delay-is-difficult-for-everyone/). [a moving tribute to the star](https://www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/music/621847/george-michaels-wham-co-star-andrew-ridgeley-gets-emotional-at-the-brit-awards-as-he-pays-tribute-to-his-former-bandmate-alongside-pepsi-shirlie/) at the 2017 BRIT Awards. [Wham!](https://www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/music/1655553/wham-george-michael-band-andrew/). [sold millions of records](https://www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/music/351587/george-michael-how-die-songs-boyfriend-fadi-fawaz/) across the world and won the hearts of millions of fans. [George](https://www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/music/351587/george-michael-how-die-songs-boyfriend-fadi-fawaz/) had moved to Hertfordshire when he was in his early teens.

Kenny Goss was George Michael's longest relationship, and were together for 13 years. Kenny founded a charity with the late singer, The Goss-Michael Foundation, ...

"I was worried about him all the time. "Honestly, he hated the fact that I worried about him so much. He was hard on me about drinking, because I developed a problem.” But who is Kenny Goss and when did the couple meet? This man has brought me a lot of joy and pain. He studied education and political science, and worked for Herkie Herkimer's Cheerleader Supply Co.

GEORGE Michael's death sent shockwaves around the world, when he passed away aged just 53.During his life he also experienced tragedy when his boyfrie.

Speaking on Desert Island Discs in 2007, he said: "It was a very strange first love. This was the first love of my entire life. [Fadi Fawz](https://www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/357007/fadi-fawaz-george-michael-boyfriend-death/), who he met in 2009. [Fadi who found the pop star dead on Christmas Day](https://www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/music/352594/george-michaels-boyfriend-pays-heartbreaking-tribute-to-star-as-he-reveals-he-was-the-one-who-found-lovers-lifeless-body/) 2016. [Kenny Goss](https://www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/351842/george-michael-ex-kenny-goss/) in 1996. [George died at his home on Christmas Day](https://www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/music/356715/george-michael-cause-of-death/) 2016.

GEORGE Michael's death on Christmas Day 2016 left friends, family and fans around the world devastated.One person who felt an enormous lost when the s.

I think they did the same with [[Michael] Jackson](https://www.the-sun.com/who/michael-jackson/), didn’t they? George’s complete body of work is his body of work. [Amy [Winehouse]](https://www.the-sun.com/who/amy-winehouse/) had passed away, they put that album out, you know what I mean? "Our mothers’ sort of crossed prams in the street and that was when we met. We met at the grand old age of about six months I think it was. Our mothers were best friends.

The world really misses George Michael. It misses his presence, his charisma, his wit, his song-writing talent, his amazing voice and his kindness, ...

It was the image that imprisoned Michael. “You can only dance with the devil so many times.” Set in a toilet that transforms into a disco, it features sexy male and female dancers, two male cops kissing, and Michael himself in a patrol man’s uniform. All the signs were there!” Ultimately, the incident turned out to be a defining moment for gay liberation. The world really misses George Michael.

The two-part documentary, George Michael: Outed, investigates the cruel role the British press played in outing queer people in the 1990s.

Ultimately, George Michael: Outed is largely about homophobia in the media and the dangerous ripple effect it causes. You look at what’s happening with the potential SNP leader in Scotland who didn’t agree with gay marriage. In response, George Michael took control of the narrative and told the world that he was a proud gay man during a CNN interview. Ogden added, “Sadly, you look at what’s happening in the press about trans lives. Rather than treating the story with care and sensitivity, journalists ruthlessly tracked down Michael’s doctor in an effort to publish private details about his sexuality and HIV status. singer’s infamous arrest in 1998 for participating in a “lewd act” in a public bathroom in California, tabloids aggressively tried to out the singer.