La Roux: 'I faced constant abuse'

Elly Jackson has revealed that she faced "constant abuse" at school.

The La Roux singer told Fabulous that she was bullied because of her appearance.

"I felt very out of sorts at school," she said. "I was a tomboy and didn't dress like a girl. I wore tracksuits and wanted to hang out with the boys. I got picked on because I was different.

"The culprit was like my best friend and my bully. I had to be friends with her or she'd f**k me up. She had me on a string. I was terrified. It was constant abuse. It was, 'You're fat, you're ugly, no-one will ever love you or fancy you'."

Jackson added that she had tried to change to fit in with her peers.

"I started bullying myself," she explained. "I'd look in the mirror and believe what I'd been told when I was younger - that no-one on the planet would ever think I was pretty or love me. I totally lost my confidence and it took three years to get it back.

"I'd try to be more girlie but ended up losing myself. I'd go out wearing trousers and vest tops and felt like a transvestite, like a weirdo, almost perverse."

However, the singer explained that she has now grown in confidence and is focusing on her music career.

"Before I went on stage [at Glastonbury] I peeked at the crowd and thought, 'Wow, Elly, you've done this'," she said. "I was so proud of myself. I was thinking, 'I've been through a lot to get here and overcome fears I never thought I would'."