Ozzy Osbourne: I'm not a sex addict, I just got caught over affair

Ozzy Osbourne has backtracked on claims he was suffering from sex addiction, which he made in the aftermath of an affair last year.

The rock star put his marriage in jeopardy when he cheated on wife Sharon and, when the infidelity was made public, Osbourne issued a statement saying he was "mortified" and seeking therapy.

However, Osbourne has now said he is not a sex addict - claiming he was just unlucky.

"I'm in a f***ing rock band, aren't I?" he told the Times. "There have always been groupies. I just got caught, didn't I? It was a bump in the road."

He added: "I don't think I'm a f***ing sex addict."

This contradicts claims he made in August after hair stylist Michelle Pugh told People magazine she had a "very real relationship" with the rocker, lasting four years.

At the time he issued a statement, saying: "Over the last six years, I have been dealing with a sex addiction. Out of bad comes good. Since the press exposed this, I have gone into intense therapy."

Speaking to the Times on Saturday, Osbourne - who was once arrested for attempting to strangle his spouse - also pointed to the couple's hectic schedules as a contributing factor in their marital woes.

Ozzy continues to tour with Black Sabbath and Sharon is busy with TV appearances - and she's rumoured to be heading back to the X Factor judging panel.

"In any marriage you grow apart if you don't spend enough time together, and that was part of the problem," he told the paper.

"Sharon is a workaholic and that's great. But if she comes home from X Factor and wants to go to bed, what the f*** am I supposed to do?

"I'm sitting with my thumb in my arse waiting for her, aren't I? That's why men do stupid things, when they're on their own."

The rock royalty pair are back on track now though, having renewed their vows before Christmas.

"Things are fine now," the Black Sabbath frontman said. "Not a day goes by when we don't speak or text. Never. Even when it's been tough, even when it's been like f***ing World War Three."