Sir Elton John has made an extraordinary claim that Jesus was gay in an interview with Parade Magazine.

"I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems."he said.

"Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving. I don't know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East - you're as good as dead."

He also describes how he and his husband, David Furnish got together."I was attracted to David immediately. He was very well dressed, very shy. The next night we had dinner.

"After it, we fell in love very quickly."

As for his other lovers before Furnish he said there was always a pattern "I'd always choose someone younger. I wanted to smother them with love. I'd take them around the world, try to educate them.

"One after another they got a Cartier watch, a Versace outfit, maybe a sports car.

"They didn't have jobs. They were reliant on me.

"In six months they were bored and hated my guts because I'd taken their lives and self-worth away. I hadn't intended to."