Robbie Williams starves himself to lose weight.

The 'Candy' hitmaker stayed away from the calorific treats over the Christmas period in a bid to stop the festive bulge, and his new low-calorie diet has stuck with him through to this year as well.

He said: ''My secret is not eating. Christmas was just a vast array of chocolate and cake and sugar and carbohydrates.

''I knew I was doing promo in Australia and I did a rather unhealthy thing of not eating .

''My regime so far year is to have a big breakfast and then two protein shakes for the rest of the day.''

The 40-year-old singer admits gorging on tasty snacks is his downfall and he finds he tends to reach for unhealthy foods when his mind isn't occupied with making music.

According to the Daily Mirror newspaper, he explained during an interview with Australian radio station Mix 94.5: ''My life used to be about sex, drugs and rock and now and it's now about cake.

''When I'm not on tour, I'm at home eating crisps and cake and watching reality TV, and if I do it for too long without doing an album I end up wearing an elasticated waist band or a kaftan as I go really fat and I grow a beard and look like a killer. So I have to release an album to stop me being morbidly obese.''