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Mike Tindall has spoken for the first time about his drunken antics with a bar room blonde, unapologetically playing down its impact on his new wife Zara Phillips.
The former England rugby captain – who married the Queen's granddaughter just weeks before the escapade – insisted 'it just wasn't some enormous crisis' to those he loves.
But he did concede, with characteristic understatement, that it 'wasn't ideal' he had ended up 'hammered'.
Unapologetic: The former England rugby captain Mike Tindall married the Queen's grand-daughter Zara Phillips, then courted controversy by kissing a blonde during a drunken night out during the Rugby World Cup
Tindall was filmed during the World Cup in New Zealand drunkenly larking around with the blonde, a former girlfriend, and the scandal threatened to discredit the sport and the Royal Family.
But he told The Mail on Sunday he would not be 'the last person to get p****d' and said the reaction to his misdemeanours turned into 'a roller-coaster I couldn't control'.
Tindall, 33, who was axed from England's Elite Player Squad as a result of his drunken exploits, said: 'I've stayed away from talking about what happened because people have their fixed opinions and you can't compete when people have already made up their minds.
'Obviously it wasn't ideal for me to end up as hammered as I was. That's a given. People have done that in their lives before and I'm sure I won't be the last person to get p****d and then realise it wasn't a great idea to drink so much.
'It's just that the reaction to my mistake turned into a rollercoaster that I couldn't control. But the people close to me, those I love, know what actually happened, and it just wasn't some enormous crisis.'
Controversy: Jessica Palmer, left, was seen being kissing Mike Tindall in CCTV images, right, taken from at a night club in New Zealand during the Rugby World Cup. The incident made headlines around the world
He also defended the team's lacklustre performance, and added: 'Given the same situation, you wouldn't repeat it. But neither did England get knocked out of the World Cup because we went for a night out.'
The tournament was widely perceived as an embarrassing failure for the England team, categorised by turgid performances and bad behaviour.
The side were knocked out in the quarter-finals against France. But it was that one drunken night out in Queenstown that caused the most controversy.
Together: Zara flew out to join New Zealand following the embarrassing revelations involving her husband
Members of the squad, including Tindall, were photographed drinking heavily in several bars, one of which was hosting a dwarf-throwing competition.
CCTV footage from the Altitude Bar revealed Tindall canoodling with blonde Jessica Palmer and struggling to walk.
Tindall originally insisted he had then gone back to the team's hotel alone.
But he was later forced to admit that he had progressed to another bar with Ms Palmer after being confronted with footage obtained by this newspaper.
Zara – the daughter of Princess Anne – flew out to join him following the embarrassing revelations.
But Tindall, who was part of England's World Cup-winning squad in 2003, maintains that going out for drinks after England's first match, and a week before the second, was not a problem in itself.
He said: 'One of the great parts of rugby is the social side of it. Anyone involved in a team will tell you that.
'Of course, we did not have as strong a tournament as we'd hoped we'd have and that we should have had. But we didn't fail at the World Cup because we had a night out.
We won the Six Nations in 2011 and we went into the World Cup wanting to win and hoping to do so.
You don't just turn up and expect an easy ride, and we didn't get one but we still won our first four games. Then we played poorly – very poorly – for 20 minutes against France [in the quarter-final] and that's why we got knocked out of the World Cup.'
Rowdy: Events on the rugby field were overshadowed by headlines about the behaviour of England players off the pitch
High profile: The conduct of Mike Tindall, seen entertaining bikini-clad beauties by the pool on his Miami stag do, was placed under greater scrutiny after his marriage to the Queen's grand-daughter Zara Phillips
Tindall, who has 75 international caps, is now actively exploring his options at home and abroad for when his Gloucester contract ends this summer. He is understood to have had offers from clubs in Britain and elsewhere in Europe.
But he has not ruled out returning to the England side. He says 'at no stage' has new coach Stuart Lan-caster told him his days as an England player are finished.
'He came and saw me when he took over [as interim coach] and said he needed to find out if a group of young players can play. It was the right thing to do, absolutely.
'I'm the sort of person who'd never say never to anything, and certainly not to England. It's one of the proudest moments of your life when you represent your country, and if I am ever asked to play again, I will.'
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