George Michael is embarrassed by the fact he had blonde hair in the 1980s.

The 'Faith' hitmaker - who shot to fame alongside Andrew Ridgeley as a member of Wham! - also finds it 'cringe' when he looks back at old videos on YouTube, in which he wore hoop earrings.

George explained: ''Where do I start? I know - the blonde hair from my Wham! days. That came about because I didn't really want to be me, so the short, dark, curly hair had to go. And I could have done without those curtain rings in my ears as well.''

The 50-year-old star also regrets placing shuttlecocks down his shorts during performances on their first tour to make his 'package' appear bigger.

He said: ''I mean, how stupid was that? Actually, that one I'll blame on Andrew - he really loved winding people up all the time.

''I do remember another embarrassing moment from the old days ... when Andrew and I went to a music awards ceremony early in our career. I was wearing a suit that made me look a bit like Colonel Sanders and I was practically orange from overdoing it on a sunbed.''

But George laughed off the disastrous look as he was still ''experimenting'' with fashion and his talent was more important.

He added in an interview with Britain's HELLO! magazine: ''One thing I didn't have any doubt about, though, was my songwriting. I had a pretty unstoppable belief in my talent and once I had a foot in the door of the music industry, nothing was going to shift me.''