Strange, don't you think I'm looking older...

Is he smoking crack? "No."

Has he ever? "No!" He starts again. "I mean, I've done different things at different times that I shouldn't have done, once or twice, you know." I say I'd hate to think of him on crack. "Of course. Of course. Nobody wants to regularly smoke crack." I'm feeling more parental by the second. It's hard not to worry about Michael – for all his paranoia, recklessness and self-absorption, he exudes intelligence, warmth and generosity. "Look me in the eye," I say. "Were you smoking crack?"

"Was I? On that occasion? Yeah."