Ousted Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said he had to confront his successor Ahmad Zahid Hamidi over rumours he was about to be arrested.

Muhyiddin said he "could not sleep at night" and his daughter and family were very worried after he was sacked last week.

"I called Zahid, I asked him is it true that I'm going to get arrested. You want to punish me? What did I do wrong? I don't believe it but my wife was so anxious to know.

"So, is your first job as the new deputy prime minister is to catch the old one?" he told the Kluang Umno delegates in their AGM in Kluang today.

He said Zahid did check to see if there was any truth in the allegations, before calling him back 15 minutes later, saying he could sleep peacefully at night as it was all only rumours.

"But I still could not sleep that night," he said laughing.

Muhyiddin said despite the drama and sleepless nights, he was thankful that Umno members were requested to respect him as the party's deputy president, by Ahmad Zahid.

He also wished Ahmad Zahid well as his replacement.

The sacking of Muhyiddin came after his remarks against 1MDB last Sunday at Cheras Umno AGM, which proved to be the final straw.

He had he talked at length about Umno problems including 1MDB, GST and rising cost of living.