Singer James Arthur has said he is still trying to come to terms with the physical and mental effects of an unprovoked assault last summer which left him needing five staples in his head.
The former X Factor winner was socialising with friends in Redcar, North Yorkshire last August when Christopher Revell attacked him from behind, smashing a pint glass on the back of his head and punching him.
Revell, the former lover of a woman Arthur had been romantically involved with, received a five-and-a-half-year prison sentence earlier this week after admitting wounding with intent.
In an interview with British tabloid The Sun, Arthur shared his anxiety about the possible long term effects of the assault.
"The worst thing about the physical damage is that I worry about head trauma, even when I'm playing football, something like heading the ball, I worry about it," the 28-year-old admitted.
He said that while he had grown up in a rough area, the attack had made him hyper-vigilant and "nervous about going home and seeing friends and family".
"I've always looked over my shoulder, especially in my home town," he explained.
"But I think more so now in public I'm scanning around."
The assault came just as Arthur was looking forward to a new stage in his career having been dropped by Simon Cowell's label Syco.
"It was maybe a month before I was going to drop my new single when it happened and I was out at the pub and feeling good. I looked good, I was in good shape and I was ready to come out [release new material] - and it happened.
"I was like, '**** something just doesn't want me to succeed'."
"But it makes all the fruits of everything so much better," he added.
Arthur's most recent single, Say You Won't Let Go, was Number One in Ireland and the UK when released last September and has sold over a million copies.
