He said: "I knew I deserved to be there. I just thought, 'Get your head down and get on with it.' But it wasn't great. I was overwhelmed by the love and support they [the fans] showed. And it turned out to be easier than I was expecting."
George, who has sold in excess of 100-million records, including his chart-topping 1987 hit album Faith, also discusses how he was 'outed' as gay in 1998 when he was arrested for lewd conduct in a public toilet in Beverly Hills.
Saying the episode "was what it was", he revealed he was glad his sexuality was not revealed while his mother was alive. He adds he was pleased that Olympic diver Tom Daley has been able to talk freely about his own sexuality on YouTube.
"I just didn't happen to come out openly until after my mother died," he said. "It was for the best because I'm pretty sure the papers would have attacked me, and I think that would have hurt her.
"But Tom hasn't had that kind of problem, and as a gay man I find that hugely encouraging."
George, who tomorrow releases Symphonica - his first album for seven years - talks of his 2011 health scare when he came close to death after contracting a virulent strain of pneumonia.
He admitted he had no idea of the danger he was in during the five weeks he spent in an Austrian hospital. He said: 'It almost killed me. On a subconscious level, it was very frightening and I'll probably never feel quite as safe in life again.
"But I also remember experiencing incredible guilt for my family and friends, because they literally spent weeks not knowing whether I was going to make it. For most of the time, though I was pretty much out of it, so I didn't realise the danger I was in until after I'd come out the other side."
Asked about the Duchess of Cambridge, George said his late friend Princess Diana would have approved of her son Prince William's choice of bride.
He said: "I think she would have been incredibly happy for William and Kate.
"And I think she'd also be really, really pleased that William has met and fallen in love with someone who has the strength of character to be able to deal with the sort of things that she couldn't.
"I know just how challenging and exacting that level of fame can be. It's like living in a goldfish bowl.
"Sometimes, especially during the Faith years, I felt close to lunacy."
- Mail On Sunday
