Pop singer Will Young has told how he was nearly stabbed in a vile homophobic attack.

“I was wandering through the East End about 14 years ago, holding hands with my then boyfriend, Julian, and we had people shouting at us. Someone actually threatened to stab us,” he told The Times.

He came out as gay not long after the incident happened but added he still has ‘to think about where I feel I belong and where I might feel unwelcome or even unsafe’.

Young has now written a book about his life as a gay man, specifically about coming to terms with his sexuality.

He said: "I genuinely do think it’s a book that’s needed because there is a lot of shame that hasn’t been worked through by gay people, and I don’t think that gay men are given room to work it out.

"But if you’ve had years and years of feeling bad about yourself and being told you are wrong, that doesn’t go overnight.”

‘To Be A Gay Man’ is out on September 3.