In an exclusive interview with BBC Sport, Healey says his columns, which were "ghosted" for him by journalist Eddie Butler, expressed his genuine opinion of life Down Under.

"When I look back on it and read what everybody else wrote, at least we went some way to telling the truth," Healey tells Butler.

"Although I've been vilified - and so has Matt Dawson and yourself - at least we were honest.

"No-one can stab you in the back for that - or maybe they can."

In one column, Healey ridiculed Australian lock Justin Harrison before the third and final Test of the series and criticised various aspects of Australian life.

He was later found guilty of bringing the Lions into disrepute and was believed to have been fined �2,500 for breaching his tour contract.

Scrum-half and BBC Sport Online columnist Matt Dawson was also critical of the tour's management in a newspaper column but the matter was dealt with in Australia before the Lions returned home.

Healey said he now wanted to put the incident behind him and concentrate on playing for Leicester.

"I'm pretty happy with it all now. I'm happy to play for Leicester and forget about the whole thing," he said.

The Tigers take on Llanelli on Saturday in the opening game of their Heineken Cup campaign, a match that will be shown live on BBC Two.

The full interview will be screened during at 1630BST on BBC One.