George Michael has been contacting his cousin from beyond the grave.

The 'Careless Whisper singer - who died on Christmas Day 2016 at the age of 53 as a result of heart and liver disease - had a "really good connection" with Chris Antoniou, 60, and his relative admitted he was "shocked" after hearing his late cousin call his name through the speakers of his car radio.

He said: "I was shocked - it was totally amazing. We had a good connection. When he said, ‘I’m free’ I understood what he meant. He’d tell me he found fame very hard."

Chris also recalled the moment he found out his cousin - who shot to fame as a member of Wham! alongside Andrew Ridgeley in the 1980s - had suddenly made it in music and noted that he still managed to retain some contact with him in those days.

He said: "One day my dad just said to me 'George is on Top of the Pops'. "It all happened so quickly for him.

"He moved his family and changed his phone number, but I still had some contact with him.

"We had a good connection - he was always busy, but most of the time he was on his own. I think maybe he was looking down realising that I was unhappy."

Following his days in Wham!, George went onto a hugely successful solo career but his former bandmate and schoolfriend Andrew, 61, explained that he still "wishes" they could be together again.

Speaking on the 'Table Manners' podcast, he said: "One misses any friend. I've been very fortunate, I haven't lost many friends or many of my peers. Andy Leaver, he was in our first school band, he died tragically young and one or two others but no one with whom I had such a close bond with. Yeah, there are moments, of course, that you wish that you could still be doing things together. He's missed by a lot of people in a variety of different ways."