AMERICAN magician David Blaine who appeared to endure a 43-day fast in a box above the River Thames in London last October confessed last December that the whole event had been an illusion. Blaine admitted the fast was part of a magic show when he was interviewed by Eamonn Holmes on GMTV on December 2. Here are some excerpts from the interview:

E: That is - you know what everybody's saying - it was you in that box.

D: Oh no, I don't even know who that guy was in there.

E: Ah, you may not be joking, that's the thing. People have their doubts. Even if it wasn't you, I'd still think it was impressive. Of course, we all want to know how you did it, so, you know, you can admit it to us.

D: This is top secret, but I've got a Pakistani double who was in there the whole time, I think he had longer hair and was skinny.

E: Ah, I saw the Pakistani double, I know you're not lying, you're telling me the truth ...

D: Yeah.

E: Because when I went down to see you that day there was a man walking around impersonating you.

D: That was me. No, that was me.

E: And he was in the box?

D: Yeah, I'd never do something like that, I couldn't do that.

E: So, are you telling me ...

D: The other ones I did, the coffin, and stuff, the guy in the box, I don't even know the story of him.

E: So the whole magic is how you got into the box and fool people into thinking it was you up there.

D: I was sneaking in and out every four hours. When I saw you come, I jumped off the crane into the glass - it looked like glass but it was hologram glass, so I jumped through the glass and I was on the other side.

E: I could believe that.

D: I'm just joking.

E: No, I don't think you are! I think you told me exactly how it's done! All that business of the eggs being thrown.

D: That was me.

E: Ah, people were saying you actively encouraged that because it gave the excuse for the crane to come up.

D: Yeah, that's also true, that's true.