Russell Brand became a postman to try and bed women.

The 38-year-old former sex addict claims he was a mail man for three weeks and took the job because he thought it would give him a good opportunity to try and chat up women when he delivered their letters.

Speaking on 'The Late Show with David Letterman', he explained: ''I was a mail man for a little while - it didn't go well.

''In my mind there's a cultural illusion that this is an opportunity for early morning conjugal activity. I thought the housewives would open the door with a gesture to the nether regions. It turns out it's not a window for sex. They just want the letters basically.

''I thought as a mail man, sex would be everywhere for me. Simply not true. It was series of doors being closed in my face.''

After realising being a postman didn't come with the added bonus of casual sex, the comedian resorted to stealing mail.

He said: ''It was a zero per cent success rate so I just resorted to stealing letters. It was the only way to cheer myself up. The money's not very good so you're not incentivised to not steal the letters.''

The star - who divorced Katy Perry in 2012 - recently claimed he was trying to be more ''discerning'' about who he sleeps with and attempting to calm down his sexual obsessions.

He explained: ''I'm calming down a bit. I'm a bit less likely to just relentlessly hurl myself into a troth full of parts, you know, sex parts. Now I try and be a bit more discerning about what goes on.''