Tom Jones has taken to Twitter to defend himself, after being criticised by fans for controversial comments about homosexuality.
The former ‘The Voice’ judge made a series of choice remarks during an interview with the Big Issue, however he has now defended his stance, tweeting: “Context! The story is about knowledge/attitudes in the 50s & 60s. it's called History!”
Tom came under fire from fans following the publication of the interview, in which he discussed being “thrown off a bit” when he first met producer Joe Meek “because he was a homosexual”.
"I thought, wait a minute, is the London scene, the people who run British showbusiness – are there a lot of homosexuals involved here?” he told the Big Issue. “Because if so, I'm going back to Cardiff."
"When I signed with Decca and Peter Sullivan became my manager… he said the same thing Joe Meek said – 'tell the boys to pack their gear up, I want to talk to you myself' – I said, 'you're not one of these queer fellows are you?' And he said, 'what are you on about?' I became paranoid, you see."
He continued: “I wondered, was that required to make a hit record? But then I got into it and I realised no, it just so happened that the first guy to record me was a homosexual producer.
"Once I got over the shock of that, and realised it wasn't true, most people were normal. Well, I shouldn't put it like that. Homosexuals are normal, it's not that they're not normal. It's just that they are what they are."
A number of fans took to Twitter following the interview, with some accusing Tom of homophobia, however some defended the star:
Tom’s currently busy promoting his new memoirs, and this isn’t the first controversial comment he’s made in recent weeks.
Earlier this month, he remembered Jimmy Savile as a “good man”, stating: “You always think of paedophiles as being like creepy people – well maybe to some people he did look a bit creepy - but he was a bit of a Jack The Lad with young girls."
He’s also had some harsh (four-letter) words for the BBC, who unceremoniously ditched him from ‘The Voice’.
“I enjoyed it, but if they don’t want me any more, they can go fuck themselves,” he said. Niiiiice.