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It was all George Michael could do to take his mind off the indignity of being charged with drug and driving offences yesterday. Back from a North London police station, he settled into a butter-soft leather sofa in his basement living room, his beloved labrador, Hippy, at his feet. Then he flicked the remote control at his giant flatscreen TV to watch EastEnders.
His personal assistant knew not to disturb him for the next 30 minutes. She knows the times of his favourite shows, which at the moment include Big Brother, and guards the slots in his daily diary as if they were top-level board meetings.
The glass tables are adorned with spectacular displays of aromatic roses and lilies. Expensive Diptyque scented candles are lit on every shelf.
And yet the unmistakable smell of cannabis still hangs in the room – inevitably, given he continues to smoke around eight joints a day.
Such is the strange life of one of the world’s greatest singer-songwriters.
His record company hotly anticipates future material from a star who has sold 100 million records. But George, 47, usually prefers to watch television soaps than compose songs.
He signed a multi-million pound deal to write a revealing autobiography. But George would not be budged by publishers nagging about deadlines.
Due last autumn, it has been put back because he insists he is not ready to write.
Smashing his £80,000 Range Rover into a Snappy Snaps shop in Hampstead Heath last month will see him in court in 10 days. Those close to him hope he will get out of bed to appear in the dock.
One member of his trusted team says: “George is a genius but every genius is flawed. His stubbornness is breathtaking. We all told him, time and time again, to use a chauffeur for safety. His cousin Alex Georgiou was on hand 24 hours a day to drive him. But no, George wanted to do things his way and drive himself. The Snappy Snaps crash was inevitable, yet avoidable.
“George won’t be told. He’ll swear on live radio once he’s been warned not to. He smoked weed on TV and confessed his love of cottaging to journalists. It has his PR people tearing their hair out.”
Those who have followed George’s career know he simply does not take unwanted advice.
Even as a young pop upstart he urged fans not to buy his single because he was annoyed at a record company deal. George will not be bossed around.
The source adds: “After years of hiding who he really was, George has no time for pretence and will do exactly what he wants – and that is not usually very much.”
Friends and family, who still call the star by his unglamorous school nickname Yog, hope this latest brush with the law will shock him into changing his lazy, hedonistic ways.
His 3.30am crash after returning from the Gay Pride parade is, it turns out, the seventh time he has been at the centre of a police probe into his driving in six years.

From: mirror.co.uk