I'M FATHER OF JACKSON GIRL - LESTER

The film actor, who shot to fame in the musical Oliver! and was a close friend of Jackson, said: "I gave Michael my sperm so that he could have kids - and I believe Paris is my daughter."

Lester, 51, also said he was willing to take a paternity test to find out the truth.

He is godfather to Paris, 11, and Jackson's two other children, 12-year-old Prince, and Blanket, seven.

"It's a been a secret for so long," he told the News of the World newspaper.

"In 1996 Michael asked me if I would give him my sperm and I said yes. It was a gift to him, no money was paid, it was something I was honoured to do. He wanted children so badly."

Lester added: "I do feel a definite bonding with Paris and I think there's a definite possibility that she's part of me.

"I want to have contact with her, Prince and Blanket regardless of whether any or all of them are mine. I think it's cruel that I've now been excluded from them."

The father of four, who played Oliver Twist in the hit 60s musical Oliver!, said the resemblance between his 15-year-old daughter Harriet and Paris has been noted. "Paris is very pale, with blue eyes. All my daughters, apart from my eldest, are fair with blue eyes. So many people have commented on how alike Harriet and Paris look."

Lester said he was speaking out because he feared being cut out of the lives of Jackson's children.