'He wouldn't be bullied. I remember thinking: you, young man, are magnificent'

I moved to England after having a gun held to my face I was in a situation with an old high-school buddy back in Georgia in the US, playing cards and gambling. He was on crack and he caught me cheating. That thing they say about your life flashing before your eyes – it's true. I'd always wanted to see England and I promised myself that, if I got out of that situation, I'd go. I was mad, too, that I'd got busted by a crackhead!

Fashion is in my blood My mother was a fitter for a Paris fashion house and looked different from all the other kids' parents who came to school: exotic skirts, silver-sprayed hair and long earrings. She looked fabulous but you don't want parents looking different so I would say, "Please don't wear too much make-up, mum." Eventually, though, it gave me inspiration for my career.

'I told him I'd decided to buy a 76 per cent stake in him – I left his mum with the other 24 per cent'

'We hit it off at the party because we're both quite tall; it helps to have someone of the same height at noisy parties'

I was hooked on ballet from an early age I was five, watching a class all dressed in pale-pink led by a thin, beautiful teacher dressed in burgundy. She was so different from the other teachers at my school, who were nuns. My parents didn't want me to do ballet, so I insisted until they gave up: I used crying and all the manipulative tricks little kids have.

'I cycle side by side with her as little as possible, as I'm not certain she's totally stable, and I know I'm not'

My earliest food memory Watching my mum [Linda McCartney] preparing family meals. The kitchen was the social hub of our home, where we'd meet, talk and eat. I'd watch her make a cream of tomato soup, when the tomatoes were at their plumpest. She'd add onions and mushrooms and blend them all together into this gorgeous hearty soup. I can still remember the beautiful smells.

'I recorded a celebration of the greatest British songs and felt guilty I hadn't included any of his'

My earliest food memory Racing large brown crabs across the kitchen floor with my dad. We'd buy them from our local fishmonger, MacCallums of Troon, in Glasgow. And the winning crab would get cooked first – and made into a Singapore chilli crab dish. Afterwards, my dad and I would take the inner claws from them, clean them and use them as devil horns come Halloween.