Why George Michael Died A Chunky Monkey

Wealthy pop star George Michael could afford to go anywhere in the world — but the late Freedom! singer was an obese dope fiend and shut-in who liked to sit at home half-naked, scarfing ice cream and watching soap operas!

That's the stunning portrait of the I Want Your Sex singer, according to 58-year-old Texan Kenny Goss, who was the British star's gay lover from 1996 to 2009.

George, who shockingly died at age 53 of an enlarged heart and liver last Dec. 25, had homes in Saint-Tropez, Beverly Hills, Dallas and London.

But his favorite was his mansion in the English countryside, where he'd lay around in his gray flannel pajamas gorging on tubs of Ben &

Jerry's ice cream — and bingeing on crack cocaine, ecstasy and 25 joints a day!

"I would find drugs and flush everything down the toilet, thinking, 'If I just get rid of it he won't get more,' " says Kenny.

High or not, George was hooked on TV.

"He liked to stay in front of the damned television all the time, watching soaps and eating Chunky Monkey ice cream. Sometimes he stayed up until 5 a.m.," recalls Kenny, adding they'd lounge around in pajamas, "but we didn't wear the tops."

While he watched American soaps, his favorite was English TV's Coronation Street. He also loved Loose Women, an English talk show like The View.

The unhealthy lifestyle caused George to explode to 287 pounds — and sources say the former sex symbol refused to go out because he was embarrassed about his weight!

Since neither cooked, they'd order take-out meals of Indian food, pasta, chicken, fish, not much red meat … "he loved a Sunday roast chicken," says Kenny.

George boosted his appetite by smoking marijuana joints.

"He was a pothead," says Kenny.

"I'd get McDonald's … He liked anything as fattening as possible because he was stoned.

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