After a period of enforced silence and reflection, John Galliano's got a taste for giving good quotes, it now seems. His highly anticipated tell-all interview in this month's Vanity Fair revealed some of the depths of his depression and addiction and now, a TV interview given to an American talkshow reveal Galliano's thoughts on his contemporary Alexander McQueen and his tragic death in 2010.

'I knew Alexander - I knew Lee. I understood,' he told host Charlie Rose in an hour-long chat. 'That loneliness, that pain. I mean as addicts we're in such perfection - we're setting that bar impossibly high, we don't understand how we're doing it and people say, 'Wow, how are you going to top that?' And we're like, 'Well yeah we're going to, don't worry.' That's what makes us wake up in the morning. I was very sad.'

He went on to talk about his workload while at Dior and running his own label alongside that, explaining that his 'very big breakdown' was in part down to feeling he couldn't turn away work and new projects.

'In the early days I was incredibly creative and productive – I loved the research trips, I loved the creation and finding technical solutions to creative challenges. I didn't need alcohol and the pills for that. What changed was, I was afraid to say no – that little word, N.O. Because I thought it showed weakness. And with more and more success, I would just say yes. And keep on taking more work on – which took its toll.'

He continued: 'Before, I would be upset or angry and it would go on for four days or five days. Now I know that I can change that. I wasn't aware of that before. I was emotionally, spiritually, physically and mentally bankrupt.'

Galliano did not reveal what his next move within fashion might be, so – thank goodness – one of the industry's richest sources of speculation has still not been shut down.