Don't ask my why but I watched an interview he did with wao mao on YouTube and that's what he claims. Half the time he seems like he's doing a bit, but he does claim the Taliban actually liked his videos, treated him well (i.e. he lived in similar conditions to what a Taliban soldier would get, was fed will, etc) and that he was only held for six months because of a strict policy from someone higher up the chain of command. The soldiers he interacted with, he claims, were apologetic. He also claims the last 2 months of captivity were due to the UK side of the equation fucking up paperwork or something, so he could have been free much earlier.

Also talks about his mom abusing/psychologically torturing him, which might help explain (not excuse) his brain worms.