Lady GaGa has always been an "over-the-top crazypants".

The eccentric singer - who is known for her outlandish costumes and lavish stage sets - admits she has always made herself the centre of attention and never turned down the chance to perform, even when she was a child.

She said: "I was always in a show. I was just such an over-the-top crazypants."

Despite her outlandish image Gaga insists she is exactly the same when she isn't working.

She told Britain's Elle magazine: "Everyone always asks about the woman behind closed doors - what happens when she takes her wigs off, when she removes her clothes? But the truth is I am still the same."

Though the 'Marry the Night' hitmaker "struggled" to find success, she hopes her work never gets easier as she thrives on difficulty.

She said: "I struggled when I was young and I continue to struggle as an artist.

"As an artist, that's something I prayed for. I really want to experience something psychotic and outer-body and magical and inconvenient to help breed my creativity, to push my tortured reality to the place of the double rainbow."