Fergie uses music to "fulfil" her in the way drugs used to.

Asked if she thinks people in her situation find other outlets for the addictive part of their personality, she said: "Absolutely. You have to. It's imperative that you find something that's going to fulfil you in that way, and for me it was making music and getting my thoughts out. Absolutely."

As well as relying on her music, 39-year-old Fergie - who has 16-month-old son Axl with husband Josh Duhamel - also undergoes regular hypnotherapy sessions and finds the treatment very effective.

She told the Guardian newspaper: "It works. My girl is a trained therapist - it's not just some flighty person who hypnotises people.

"It's normal therapy and at the end, you go into a more relaxed state where she can speak to my subconscious. I just get very relaxed and it's almost a dream state, so you're highly suggestible at that point.

"It's weird, I will hear her voice sometimes later on. I've done hypnosis for eating and I'll be lying there, she'll be putting her positive suggestions in and later on, I'll go to the refrigerator and I'll hear her voice telling me to be sensible."

One way in which the Black Eyed Peas star is sensible with her food options is her breakfast, a daily fruit and vegetable smoothie.

She said: "My breakfast is a green smoothie every day and I'm sipping it right now. It's kale, spinach and romaine. What saves it is there's half a banana, half an apple and half a pear in it."