Everett defends Yates yarns

British actor Rupert Everett has begged Bob Geldof to forgive him for including intimate tales of his late wife Paula Yates in his new autobiography.

Red Carpets and other Banana Skins details the actor's on-off affair with Yates while she was still living with Geldof.

However, Everett insists he was merely paying a fond tribute to an exceptional woman, and didn't mean to be malicious.

He says: "I don't think Bob will be angry. I think Bob would consider whether Paula would like to be in someone's book or not, and described, hopefully, in a sweet way.

"And I think he would conclude that she would like it, because she loved drama and scandal. She would like to live on in people's minds as someone who had done strange things. Or be talked about anyway."