Ellie Goulding has revealed she turned to alcohol in a bid to become “more interesting” as she adjusted to life in the spotlight.
The pop star, 32, said she would prepare for interviews by drinking – even before appearing on the BBC’s Live Lounge, which is usually recorded in the morning.
Speaking on Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast, Goulding said: “I had to be a fake person to deal with the surreal situation I was in.
“Usually for me it involved alcohol. I assumed I couldn’t be good enough, smart, funny, or crazy enough to be with certain people without it.
“Live Lounges used to be most nerve-wracking, I even drank before those, I swear to God.
“I would say, ‘Right, I’ve got to drink this morning because I’ve got this interview and I don’t really know how to answer the questions, because I don’t really know who I am any more.’
“I thought drinking would at least make me a bit more funny, or interesting.”
However Goulding, who performed at the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding reception, insists she never had an alcohol problem.
“I wasn’t an alcoholic,” she said. “I could go months without a drink, too.”
Goulding, who released her debut album Lights in 2010, also said she had been in therapy in a bid to deal with anger issues.
She revealed her marriage to old Etonian Caspar Jopling in August has helped sooth the anger.
“When I met Caspar, this anger thing just went away,” she said. “At first it didn’t. I did that thing we all do when we first meet someone you really like and you… don’t possibly show any of your bad traits.
She added: “With Caspar I instantly felt calmer.”