David Bowie - Bowie's Mismatched Eyes Were The Result Of A Love Rivalry

DAVID BOWIE has opened up about his mismatched eyes, explaining how a childhood accident left him looking odd and feeling "embarrassed".

The reclusive rocker agreed to talk candidly to writer Mark Spitz for his new biography, Bowie, and revealed the real story behind his famous eyes.

The Let's Dance hitmaker says, "When I was 14 I fell in love with a girl. I was crazy about her. Only trouble was, my best mate had a bit of a soft spot for her too, but I was the winner. I moved in before he'd even made up his mind about how to approach her. Next day I was at school boasting to my mate about what a Casanova I was and he became terribly annoyed. In fact he threw a punch at me.

"It caught me in the eye and I stumbled against a wall and onto my knees. At first he thought I was kidding. It wasn't a very hard punch but obviously caught me at a rather odd angle."

Spitz tracked down the love rival who threw the punch, George Underwood, who told the author, "He knew damn well why I did it. We both wanted to go out with her and I was lucky enough to get a date.

"On the day of the date David rang me up and said that she had to cancel. So I didn't go but he had made up the whole story. The girl stood around for over an hour waiting for me as I discovered later. It was a bastard thing to do and I was furious with him, so it developed into a fight between us. And during the punch-up I caught his eye with a fingernail."

Bowie was hospitalised and doctors noticed the sphincter muscles of his left eye were badly torn, preventing the pupil from dilating or contracting. Doctors managed to save his eye, but explained the cosmetic aspects of the condition would be permanent.

The rocker, then David Jones, adds, "For quite a while I was very embarrassed about it. Although I could see very well out of the eye, it made me self-conscious."