Pete Doherty: Poisoning made my heart stop

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The Babyshambles frontman, who has fought drug addiction, cancelled Irish shows last month which he initially claimed was because of "exhaustion".

Life support: Pete Doherty was rushed to hospital

But he has admitted that he was taken to Swindon's Great Western Hospital after suffering "poisoning" at his Wiltshire home.

"If I hadn't been on a life support machine I'd have been in Ireland, but my heart stopped," he said in an interview with NME. Doherty, who missed Babyshambles shows in Dublin, Belfast and Galway, said drugs were not involved.

The musician, who has been fitted with an implant to keep him off heroin and cocaine, said he became ill at his home in Marlborough, but remembers little.

"It was a really strange turn of events. Obviously, their [the doctors'] immediate thought was that it was to do with drugs, but it wasn't — it was some kind of poisoning," he said. "What happened? Well, I don't know, I don't remember. I thought I was a taxi driver offering to take everyone to Elephant and Castle. I was running into the walls, making steering wheel signs with my hands. And then I just stopped. My body just stopped.

"I woke up and the doctors were asking Do you know your name?'. I said Yeah, Peter.' And they said Do you know where you are?'. I said Well, I'm in a hospital.'. It was like 20 Questions."

Doherty — who goes on a British tour with Babyshambles next month — said doctors had given him the all-clear, but added: "They're concerned about my heart rate."

The full interview is in this week's NME, on sale tomorrow.