America’s Got Talent contestant Timothy Poe sobbed his way through an interview as he apologised for telling misleading stories about his military past.

But he insisted that he believed the tales to be true, refusing to admit that he lied.

‘I don't feel like I've lied. That's what's driving me crazy, because I truly thought things have happened to me.’

The army disputes his claims of having been injured in an IED explosion in Iraq, and of having been hit by a grenade in Afghanistan.

According to military records, Poe never even went to Iraq.

‘I'm thinking, why have I for the last, over two years, believed things have happened to me and they might not have?’