Pop star Ellie Goulding has revealed she suffers from a secret heart problem – and has been putting herself at risk by ignoring it.

The Anything Could Happen singer explained she noticed the problem over a year ago, but chose to continue performing around the world.

“I found out I have this heart thing and I need to get it checked out,” she told Australia’s Perth Now.

Ellie Goulding
Ellie Goulding (Nick Ansell/PA)

“I’m fine – it’s actually something someone discovered last year but I never got it checked out. Which is terrible, I have been playing with my life.”

The 28-year-old singer, who became a vegetarian two years ago and is a fitness fanatic, has since scaled back her approach to dieting and exercising.

“I have been very relaxed, I have been chilling and not being as militant about what I eat. It’s nice to know you actually can’t go to the gym, you’re not allowed,” she admitted.

The star is currently performing in Australia, but she was forced to shake off accusations that she was lip-syncing during a show at the AFL Grand Final in Melbourne on October 3.

There was confusion as she attempted to sing her Fifty Shades Of Grey hit, Love Me Like You Do – but it later emerged that the Burn backing track was playing at the same time, leaving Ellie trying to sing over the top of the noise.

Some viewers speculated that she was lip-syncing, but Ellie – who was also recovering from the flu – dismissed the idea:

“I would rather something go wrong than go up there and people think I am this perfect pop star who everything goes right for, and I’m not human, I’m a robot,” she said.

She pointed out that, while her vocals were live, playing with a live band wasn’t an option at the performance at the sports arena.

“I think technically the thing that people don’t understand is when I am given a gig like that, I don’t have the option of playing with my band live,” she explained, saying she had to use a backing track instead.

“People don’t realise that most of their favourite artists, their favourite performers, have to do that all the time.”

She added: “I’m not hurt by any accusations of lip-syncing. I don’t b****y lip-sync. If I lip-synced I would be terrible at it.”