Julie Burchill: 'I failed to out George Michael!'

To think, George Michael tried to out himself to Julie Burchill many years before his cop cock-cocking loo encounter. And she didn't notice!

"My first interview when I left NME was with George Michael," she tells Platform. "It was ten years before he came out as gay and was just about to break up Wham! Our chat was this big deal for The Times where he was hoping to re-introduce himself as a singer songwriter.

"I met him again after he was busted in the toilet and revealed he was gay. He said, 'Did you not understand what I was trying to do in that interview? I really wanted to come out and I thought that was the opportunity to do it, but you just didn’t notice.' I asked him what it was I 'hadn’t noticed' and he said, 'Do you remember that I stood there with one hand on my hip? And when the tea arrived I said, "Shall I be mother?” Did you not think that added up to something?'

"I thought he was just being friendly. He said he was camping around and I was totally oblivious. He’s adorable."