Mariah: 'There will never be a new me'

Rex Features

Mariah Carey has insisted that there will never be a "new" her.

The singer, who scored her 18th US number one with new single ‘Touch My Body’, said she has nothing to fear from emerging stars like Leona Lewis.

She told the Observer Music Monthly: "Honestly, there has been so many 'This is the new her', and I'm like, 'OK, show me the new her. Can she come and work for me and be my double?'

"And I'm not particularly talking about this girl Leona, because I only heard her once and I didn't really hear a true similarity, particularly in the style of music.

"It is what it is and critics have compared me to so many people who are not really singers, and they're certainly not writers."

Carey added that she has nothing to be "concerned about”, saying: “There is no new me. I am me until the day I die. Whenever that is, that is when it is.”