Jamelia admits her daughter inspired her to push back against her "hypersexualised "persona"

Speaking on the 'We Need To Talk' podcast with Paul C Brunson, she recalled: "There's this idea that if you're an R+B singer, a black woman, you need to have this hypersexualised persona. And I was fighting against that so much.

"I definitely fell into that at first and I loved the attention.

"If you look at pictures at the beginning of my career I was in trainers and baggy trousers, like Aaliyah, that was my vibe.

"For me at that age, like 22, 23, to be seen as sexy, was like 'Oh my gosh, me?' So I definitely fell into it and lapped it up.

"So when they suggested shorter skirts, and I mean like really short, I was on 'Top of the Pops' and my bottom was on 'Top of the Pops.' "

However, the 'Superstar' hitmaker admitted being a mother gave her pause for thought.

She explained: "But then having a daughter - when she's a baby it doesn't matter, but when I has second daughter in 2005, seeing my then four-year-old copying my moves and copying my music videos and stuff like that, I was just like, no.

"And it wasn't just because it was my daughter, it was this is everyone's daughter. I remember going in and saying I don't want to do that anymore, I don't want to influence people's daughters to be sexual.

"My child is four and there are other four-year-olds and little girls who are big fans of mine, why am I selling this to them?

"And then it became this thing that 'this is what R+B singers do, if you want to be in R+B this is what you do.' And I was like, no."

Jamelia has daughter Teja, 23, with ex Terry Wallen and Tiani, 19, with ex-husband Darren Byfield, while she never revealed the identity of her third husband - with whom she has True, seven, and Jream, two - after he walked out on during her last pregnancy.

She previously opened up on how her children inspired her changing her red carpet style.

She told MailOnline in 2017: "I remember attending the Pride of Britain Awards with straightened hair in a short, blue dress showing plenty of leg and cleavage.

"But even though I had everything on show, I was hiding the real me. Now, I'm much more comfortable being myself. As I've got older, I think sexy is about leaving something to the imagination.

"It has a lot to do with having daughters: my eldest is 16 this month, and I am conscious of how she sells herself. I want to be the best role model I can."