George Michael His Tragic Lost Love

Years before the singer was arrested and outed to the world, George found the one... But his happiness was short-lived

- By Lisa Sinclair 

For the voracious press in the late 1990s, it was front-page gold – pop superstar George Michael arrested in a public toilet for lewd conduct.

As the news broke, a media maelstrom engulfed the singer’s Los Angeles home, paparazzi outside and news choppers overhead.

Michael, who had carried the secret of his sexuality since finding fame as one half of Wham! at 19, chose to wrestle control of the narrative.

Refusing to be shamed, the British singer appeared on chat shows and news channels to talk with candour and trademark humour about life as a gay man.

Now a new documentary, George Michael: Outed, explores how the way he dealt with his outing in April 1998 inspired young men who followed in his footsteps.

“He knew he had a voice and people would listen to him,” his cousin and one-time manager, Andros Georgiou, explains.

Today, 25 years later, in an era of acceptance and Harry Styles, gender identity and gay pride, outing seems an alien concept. Then, homosexuality was still seen as something to be hidden in order to succeed. For Michael, beloved by teenage girl fans, it seemed wise to keep his sexuality a secret – despite having been a fixture of London’s gay nightclubs since the 1980s.

But while his career soared, personal happiness eluded him.

That changed when Michael spotted designer Anselmo Feleppa in the crowd at the Rock in Rio concert in Brazil in January 1991.