THE DARKNESS - HAWKINS: 'POULLAIN ALIENATED HIMSELF'

THE DARKNESS frontman JUSTIN HAWKINS is horrified his former bandmate FRANKIE POULLAIN has publicly slammed him for freezing him out of the band - as he insists the bassist alienated himself.

The catsuit-sporting rocker admits his initial claims that the parted company with Poullain because of "musical differences" were rubbish, as the reality was more hostile than anyone could have imagined.

He explains, "Basically, we all agreed that saying it was musical differences was the way to go because no one wants to make the first move when it comes to establishing a reason why it happened and there's legal stuff to deal with too.

"In the press Frank has said that me and SUE (Whitehouse - the band's manager and Hawkins' girlfriend) froze him out over a long period of time, but when we were on the road together it was obvious to everyone that he froze himself out."