KATHERINE JENKINS - OPERA BEAUTY JENKINS' DRUGS SHAME

OPERA BEAUTY JENKINS' DRUGS SHAME

Clean-cut opera star KATHERINE JENKINS has stunned fans after confessing to taking cocaine and ecstasy during her youth.
The Welsh mezzo soprano admitted to taking the hardcore drugs as she was studying at London's prestigious Royal Academy of Music, starting when she was just 19.
But the experience often left her feeling depressed after a night of excess.
She says, "I tried one line of cocaine that first time. I'm not going to blame anyone else for giving it to me, or even say who it was. I take responsibility for my own actions, and always will. I took cocaine a handful of times more after that, maybe five or six... I'd take up to three lines a night...
"After taking cocaine, I felt absolutely terrible. It was like the worst hangover in the world times 10, times 100. I'd feel depressed and paranoid, it was awful.
"I also tried ecstasy and MDMA, which is the powder form of ecstasy. But afterwards that made me feel worse than cocaine. I didn't want to live the next day, it made me feel so depressed. It was horrible, just horrible."
It was only when Jenkins secured a deal with Universal Records worth over $1.64 million (GBP1 million) in 2003 that she realised her future was at stake - so she kicked her drug demons once and for all.
And Jenkins - who has just signed a $9.8 million (GBP6 million) record deal with Warner Music - insists she deeply regrets her drugs shame.
She continues, "It's not something I ever wanted to talk about publicly, because taking drugs is the biggest regret of my life.
"Look at Amy Winehouse. She's an amazing talent but she is in such a bad way, it's such a shame. I could have ended up like her. It's possible. I don't think I'd ever have got that bad, but who knows with drugs. They're frightening. And that's why I feel so lucky to have stopped when I did."