A former English child star is claiming to be the biological father of Michael Jackson's children.

Mark Lester, known for his portrayal as the title character in the 1968 musical Oliver!, has opened up to the media about believing that the sperm Jackson asked him to donate years ago went towards creating Prince Michael, Paris, and Blanket.

"After Michael asked me to donate sperm for him I completely forgot about it... I remember Michael ringing and saying, 'Oh, you don’t have any fertility difficulties do you?'Then out of the blue about a year later, he mentioned sperm donation and I agreed. Michael set it up for me to turn up to a clinic in Harley Street, London to do it. It was weird. I went in a couple of times to donate but we never talked about it ever again. It was a really strange request but while Michael was alive I never gave it another thought. I didn’t ­donate to get something out of it."

Lester never questioned the paternity of Jackson's children when he was still alive, but he began to see similarities between himself as a child and to Blanket, as well as between his daughter and Paris. The British actor - who is the godfather to Jackson's kids - has agreed to submit to a DNA test to prove his paternity at the consent of Prince Michael, Paris, and Blanket: "I wouldn’t have a DNA test without the children’s permission but when the children come of age, and it’s not far away, and they decide they want me to do it then I will. It is up to them."