The former Culture Club singer - who spent four months in prison in early 2009 for assault and the false imprisonment of a male escort - had mixed feelings when he realised he was close to being allowed to return home as he appreciated the simplicity of life behind bars.

He explained: "To be honest when I knew I was being released I did have a moment when I was like, `Do I really want to get out?!` and I thought you know when you read about people being institutionalised I thought well I can understand why. Because you know what you`re doing."

The `Karma Chameleon` hitmaker appreciated getting to spend a lot of time alone when he was in jail as he had not done so since a holiday to India more than 10 years prior to his imprisonment.

He told Absolute Radio DJ Frank Skinner: "You do get a lot of time on your own and at a certain point you do actually think oh, this is actually quite good because you get time to think. The only thing is it`s kind of an enforced situation though.

"The last time I kind of had that experience was when I went to India in the 90s when I kind of really felt like I had some time to me. But that was a different kind of experience. But it wasn`t that dissimilar. I mean I got to read a lot."

The singer - real name George O`Dowd - has written a song, Pentonville Blues, about his time in London`s Pentonville Prison where he was held before being moved to Edmunds Hill in Suffolk, South East England.

Despite only spending a few days there, he admitted he was scarred by the experience.

He said: "I think those kind of places, the holding prisons, are a bit run down and I think maybe, my theory is that they put you there for a bit to horrify you, then they send you somewhere a bit nicer."
sections: Celebrities