George Michael shocked his fans last week when he was sent dramatically hurtling from a speeding car onto the M1, narrowly escaping death.
While speculation is rife as to the circumstances surrounding the incident, a friend of George Michael has insisted that the star wasn’t trying to commit suicide.
Claiming that George Michael, 49, was happy and healthy and working on new material, the source says that his bizarre near-death experience was merely an accident.
“There is no mystery – he was trying to shut the door,” George Michael’s friend told The Mirror, explaining away the high speed fall that stopped rush hour traffic.
“George has been perfectly happy and is in a great place. To insinuate that he threw himself out of the car is absurd,” they added.
Rumors over George Michael’s state of mind have been circulating sine the dramatic incident, but his pal insists that it he was just careless by opening the passenger door of the silver Range Rover while travelling in the fast lane on the M1.
“It was an accident and he is the first person to put his hand up and say <<I’m sorry>>. He deserves more sympathy,” his friend added.
The accident that happened near St Albans in Hertfordshire last Thursday, is currently being investigated by police, while George Michael remains in hospital with “some bumps and cuts”.
Driver Katherine Fox has recently spoken out about how she was forced to swerve and skid to a halt in order to avoid hitting George Michael.
She said that she didn’t know how the singer survived the rush-hour fall which left him dazed, covered in blood and with his tracksuit top ripped to shreds.
Katherine Fox, 23, who was driving behind in her Mini, braked before reversing to shield George Michael from other vehicles.
An off-duty policeman directed traffic around the scene. George Michael was airlifted to hospital where he was said by his spokesman last night to be “making good progress” five days after the drama.
But Katherine Fox, a children’s nanny, said: “I honestly don’t know how he survived. He had a bad cut on his face and the blood was running down over his mouth and teeth.
“He was in shock, breathing and conscious, but looked terrible. There was so much blood on his face that I didn’t recognize him.”
George Michael hit the third of four lanes on a northbound stretch of the motorway near St Albans, Hertfordshire. His trainers and trademark designer sunglasses were flung into another lane by the impact.
Katherine Fox said: “I saw blood everywhere and he was on the ground. I thought someone had run across the road and been hit until I was told what happened.
“Someone said he tried to open the car door and shut it again because it wasn’t shut properly and apparently fell out. I was told the car wasn’t speeding and was doing 70 mph.
“I was on the phone to the ambulance and said, <<You’d better come quick. This doesn’t look good>>. An off-duty policeman was telling me what to say and re-directing the traffic which had slowed down.”
At George Michael’s home in Highgate, North London, his boyfriend Fadi Fawaz, 39, said on the day after the incident: “He is perfectly fine. Of course I was worried, but I have spoken to him and he is good. I have no idea what happened, I wasn’t there.”
George Michael, who has enjoyed a successful solo career since finding fame in the 1980s duo Wham!, was close to death only 18 months ago after being struck down with pneumonia in Vienna.
The singer is currently banned from driving. Three years ago he was jailed for eight weeks for crashing a Range Rover into a shop in North London while under the influence of drugs.
George Michael was also disqualified from driving for five years, having served a two-year ban imposed in 2006 when he was convicted of driving while on drugs after being found slumped in his Mercedes.
