Pete Burns

“Surely, marriage is throwing anchor and saying, 'This is where I'm staying. I've made my choice, and this is all I want because I've been on the up and down escalator, through the revolving door, and I want to stand still.' That's what I expected.”

“I never had posters on my walls, and I didn't have any icons, either. I come from a small village in Wirral, and my family didn't watch TV. I wasn't exposed to people with icon status. David Bowie popped up, but I had already shaved my eyebrows off by the time I saw his.”

“I'm not a camp, throwaway queen; I'm not in Neverland. I'm not Jennifer Lopez with three people to pluck my eyebrows. I've made myself what I want to be - not everybody's cup of tea. And people wanna have a look at me. I fully accept that. People have always wanted to have a look at me.”

“In 1997, a severe depression hit me, but I didn't respond well to anti-depressants.”

“I hope when I'm 80 that I get to Heaven and God doesn't recognise me.”

“I had piercings all over my face, which did look dreadful, but I got them done while waiting for my husband Michael to get a tattoo. I was bored.”

“I view marriage as a sacred institution. I think two men naturally are predators. Gay relationships are a commercial break, not a whole movie.”

“The trouble is that people are all too ready to jump to conclusions about anybody who they think looks a bit strange. They think you must be mentally subnormal.”

“It's not a matter of vanity; it's a matter of sanity. I'll never look forever young, but I'll look as best as I possibly can; I'll look surreal.”

“I live a quiet daytime life. I walk everywhere. I lie down. I wash socks. I fry an egg.”

“I never have crushes, apart from my husband Michael, I guess, because I was obsessed with him, and I didn't speak to him for nearly a year. I kept going into the restaurant where he worked to look at him.”

“I have regular peels and Botox. It's something I'll always do. People redecorate their homes every few years, and I see this as no different. Changing my face is like buying a new sofa.”

“My behavioural problems are non-existent because all my freakiness, I guess, is manifested in a visual way. And I never have come unravelled.”

“The amount of surgeries I've had are absolutely minimal compared to the reconstructive surgeries I've had. Probably 300.”

“I'm not trying to be a girl by putting on a dress - gender is separated by fabric.”

“I'm not interested in gigs unless I really want to do them. I walked away from music in 1997, and then there was a greatest hits in 2002. Thank God, it didn't do too well because the record company wouldn't promote it.”