Jackson 'took pills to relieve tension'

David Gest has claimed that Michael Jackson drank and took painkillers to relieve the tension of rehearsals for his planned London concerts.

He told The Sun that Jackson was in a poor state of health as a result of the preparations for the 50 dates at London's O2.

Gest said: "It is ridiculous to have an artist to rehearse until the wee hours of the morning because when he got home his adrenaline was so up, the only thing he could do was revert to pills or shots or alcohol to relieve the tension.

"Michael was getting thinner and thinner. He lost close to 15lb in the last six weeks - he wasn't eating enough. They should have realised doing a concert one day on, one day off, would be tough for any performer, let alone someone who hadn't been on stage for nine years.

"It was ridiculous. Michael was working his ass off for eight hours a day to prepare. The schedule didn't allow him proper time to rest."

Gest added that Jackson's ability to control his own affairs was affected after an incident in 1984 when he was burned during the filming of a Pepsi advert.

"He was in terrible pain and all he cared about was feeling better. He started taking prescription pills to numb the pain and he also started drinking. It was then that his judgement started to become clouded," he said.