Emotional John Prescott: I bitterly regret the affair with my secretary

John Prescott admitted last night that he has 'no excuses' for having an affair with his diary secretary.

The former deputy prime minister said he deeply regretted his two-year liaison with Tracey Temple, which he claimed made him feel 'ashamed'.

In an interview with John Humphrys on the BBC Radio 4 programme On The Ropes, Mr Prescott's voice cracked with emotion as he recalled the fallout from the relationship.

His affair with Miss Temple was revealed in April 2006 after a newspaper published photographs of the couple together during a drunken Whitehall office party.

He was forced to apologise at that year's party conference, saying he had let Labour down.

'I felt very bad about it,' he revealed yesterday. 'I made the statement to conference because I felt I had let everybody down.

'I just got to a stage where I thought to myself: "Well if you feel that bad, can you continue doing your job?"'

But he said Tony Blair had not asked him to go and he did not offer his resignation on the insistence of his wife Pauline.

'I talked to my wife: She was very strong and supportive,' he added. 'I was fortunate to be a man who has a wife who's obviously more mature than me.

John Prescott and Tracey Temple at Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's private flat at Admiralty Arch, February, 2006

'I felt bad about it, should feel bad about it, apologised for it and got on with the job.'

Mr Prescott said the affair was 'just one of those things that did happen'.

'I have got no excuses for it,' he added. 'Things happen like that in your personal life, don't they?'

The relationship between Mr Prescott and Miss Temple is believed to have started in 2002 but only came to light when her lorry driver boyfriend looked through her text messages.

John said the affair he had with his diary secretary made him feel ashamed and that he had let the Labour party down

The diary secretary then sold her story to a newspaper.

Asked why he thought she had done this, Mr Prescott said: 'I don't know; it's a matter for Tracey. She decided to do so and that's what brought it to light. That's life.'

In another interview with GMTV yesterday, Mr Prescott admitted he was still affected by having failed his 11-plus.

Saying he had several chips on his shoulder, he quipped: 'Part of my problem is I eat too many chips.'

He also claimed to be too embarrassed to watch his own speeches, adding: 'I think it's something I've not mastered - the language or the grammar - and that's caused a problem for me.'