Why did Boy George go to prison? Star spent months in jail long before joining I'm A Celeb
Boy George spent months in jail years before entering the I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! jungle.
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The Culture Club singer has prided himself on his uncanny ability to stand out from the crowd and get a reaction from people, whether good or bad. However, some of his antics saw Boy George, 61, end up on the bad side of the law.
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Boy George first rose to fame in the 1980s, and with over four decades in the spotlight there are bound to be moments the artist would rather forget.
Aside from his musical success, the star battled drug addiction and multiple run-ins with the law.
Although current I’m A Celebrity viewers may be hard-pushed to believe the peace-keeping, vegetarian Buddhist currently in camp has the ability to cause that much trouble.
In 1986, just three years after the international hit Karma Chameleon was released, the singer was arrested for heroin possession after a police raid on his Hampstead house.
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At the time he was undergoing treatment for his addictions and the magistrate let him off with a small fine in light of him taking steps to address his dependency.
Then in 2009, George was sentenced to more that a year in prison after an incident two years earlier.
It involved George handcuffing a male escort to a wall in his London flat. George has always denied a court claim that he beat the victim with a chain.
The judge described the attack as "callous" and "humiliating" before sentencing him to 15 months in jail for assault and false imprisonment. He served four months before being let out for good behaviour.
George has said he was high on drugs and having a psychotic episode at the time of the attack. He has since sought treatment and is understood to have remained sober ever since.
Speaking to Jonathan Ross in 2009, George opened up about his experience, saying he had spent four months in jail and then four months “in tag”.
Tag simply meant that George was on house arrest, meaning he could only go out between 7am to 7pm on weekdays and wore what he called “a Peckham rolex”, or ankle monitor.
The singer admitted he got a bit “depressed” when his 'rolex' came off as it was a handy excuse to avoid social events he didn’t want to go to.
Speaking about his experience in prison, George admitted: “I had it coming for a while so it wasn’t a surprise for me.
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“The first 48 hours were a bit of a shock but people were actually really nice. There’s some nice people in prison.
“They probably thought I was going to be a complete nightmare but I wasn’t.”
George’s fame also didn’t escape him inside, he recalled everyone shouting Karma Chameleon as he walked into jail.
The singer also had his friends and fans on the outside showering him with gifts.
Sir Elton John reportedly sent him a Ghetto Blaster radio, although security wouldn’t actually give it to George.
He added: “The governor said it was like a Blue Peter appeal down there. People were sending me teapots and kettles.
“I got sent a chocolate willy which was quite funny.”
I’m A Celebrity continues tonight on ITV at 9pm.
