GEORGE MICHAEL still chuckles when he recalls his 1998 arrest for lewd behaviour in a Beverly Hills toilet because there was a copy of tabloid NATIONAL ENQUIRER waiting for him in his police cell.
The FAITH singer spent three hours in a cell at BEVERLY HILLS POLICE STATION before his partner Kenny Goss picked him up, and he admits he spent the entire time convinced he was part of an elaborate prank.
Speaking candidly to chat show host Oprah Winfrey yesterday (26MAY04), in his first American TV interview since his arrest, Michael giggled as he recalled the fateful day.
He said, "(Beverly Hills Police Station) is the most spotless police station you can imagine. It's a top-class police station.
"They put me in this room and obviously there's nothing sharp in there, in case you decide to take your own life or anything. There's like a big stone slab with a blanket in case you feel tired at three in the afternoon and a copy of the National Enquirer.
"I'm sitting there thinking, 'This has got to be a joke. I know I'm going to be on the cover of this next week. Someone's having a laugh.'"
And the comedy didn't end there for Michael: "Kenny picked me up from the police station, we went to dinner and when I told him what had gone on he said, 'Well you never know, it might not get in the press.'"
27/05/2004 02:23