Singer on strict cayenne pepper diet to prepare for the next month's Grammys as he reveals he is "body conscious"
Sam Smith has revealed he is on a diet just days after US television star Howard Stern called him "fat and ugly."
The Stay With Me singer is on a cayenne-pepper juice regime, favoured by the likes of Beyonce and J-Lo ahead of the Grammy awards next month.
In an emotional interview, Sam, 22, also told how he would love to have abs like Justin Bieber.
"I just want to lose weight for the Grammys, if I'm honest.
"I'm just very body-conscious. Sometimes I'm really proud that I don't look like other pop stars. But there's also moments where I'm like, 'Ugh, I wish I had abs like Bieber.'"
Smith was left upset earlier this week when Stern called him an "ugly motherf*****" live on a radio show in the US.
America's Got Talent judge Stern said: "You know what I like about the guy? He's an ugly motherf*****. He's fat. Is he gay? He looks gay to me, not that anybody looks gay, but he does seem effeminate.
"I like that he's chubby and gay. That's why I love him. He's one of those guys I feel like, he's really good but I feel like that will be his only hit song."
Smith is up for six Grammys - including best song for I'm Not the Only One. He's up against Beyonce, one of his favourite artists. Sam even confesses to sing her hit Drunk in Love, as well as knowing all of the dance moves.
He's rivalling her for Album of the Year but he would rather see her win the gong than himself, saying: "She deserves to win it way more than I do. I'd be embarrassed if I got it over her. If I got it I'd give it to her."
Sam has a huge following in America, but while he says he is happy today, he says there were painful times in his childhood - particularly when dealing with his sexuality.
He maintains he was fine "80 per cent of the time" but told of a day he was walking near his home when someone drove by and shouted "f****t" at him from their car.
"I was just embarrassed that my dad had to see that, because I could only imagine how you feel as a parent. You just want to kill them," Sam told the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine.
"I was always embarrassed for the people around me. It actually never deeply affected me, you know?"
"I got punched in my neck, just out of nowhere. It wasn't the easiest."
Sam admitted that he wrote his album, In the Lonely Hour about unrequited love. He has also been very open about being gay.
And he says he knew of his sexuality from a young age. In fact, as a young teen he fell for a boy at school who was two years older than him. The feelings weren't reciprocated but he made a good friend.
Sam wells up as he talks of the "intense" love letter he sent to the boy, who responded saying he saw him just as a friend.
Sam said: "It makes me emotional, he looked out for me for the rest of school. He just made sure that if anyone took the piss out of me, he would stick up for me. He could have made it hell for me, you know?"
Sam also addressed comparisons to fellow Brit Adele, who has also taken the States by storm.
Despite being a huge fan of the Someone Like You sensation, he says it annoys him.
Referring to Adele, 24, as his "Michael Jackson" he adds: "We're very different, and I feel like the constant comparisons might piss her off." He adds, "It just annoys me that people can't digest two pop stars singing really personal songs who don't look like normal pop stars."
