Boy George has said David Bowie once congratulated him for winning Stars in Their Eyes after posing as the late icon.

George, who won the talent show twice in 2001 and 2002 posing as Bowie, recalled a time he had dinner with the late artist in New York in 2005.

Speaking to NME for Does Rock ‘N’ Roll Kill Braincells?, the Culture Club singer said: “I won Stars in Their Eyes twice as Bowie, which is another thing my manager was like: ‘Who the fuck told you to do that?!’.

“When I had dinner with Bowie in 2005 in New York, he said to me: ‘Oh, I hear you won Stars in Their Eyes?’. And I looked at him and went: ‘No, I didn’t win once – I won twice’, to which he replied: ‘Good boy – I would expect nothing less!’.

“The second time I won, I took it seriously and worked with a vocal coach.”

George recently admitted that he apologised to former Culture Club drummer Jon Moss.

Moss sued George, as well as guitarist Roy Hay and bassist Mikey Craig, last year, with the drummer’s lawyers claiming he was told to “take a break” by the band’s manager Paul Kemsley in 2018.

“We are having this court case so I thought I would call him as I thought I was really moved by the script and I was really moved by the story of how we met and I suddenly thought: ‘You know what, I forgot about all that’,” George said.

“I forgot about all that really amazing stuff when I met him and you know how much I was in love with him and how it was so beautiful and exciting and all the stuff happened. It got lost in all this kind of bitterness and all this feuding.

“So it was interesting for me to sit with Jon and go: ‘Actually mate, I might have to apologise to you for some things.”