The former Culture Club frontman branded Lucas a "prissy, niggly diva" after the funnyman starred in George's hit 2002 musical Taboo, about the singer's rise to fame.

The hitmaker - real name George O'Dowd - later attempted to apologise for the slur, but failed to resolve their feud.

He says, "I wrote Matt an email a while ago. I apologised to him for the things I said but he didn't respond."

But O'Dowd, 47, insists he deserves to be commended for his effort to mend broken relationships.

He adds: "It's about what you have done and holding your head up high. I wish that a few more people would apologise to me in life. There's something to be said about being able to say sorry."