Adele has criticized pop stars who use sex to sell records.

The pregnant "Someone Like You" hitmaker has slammed her chart rivals - who include Rihanna, Madonna and Lady Gaga - who strip off in their videos to promote themselves and insists most female singers look very different in real life to how they look on screen.

"They don't look how they do in magazines or videos. I have seen them up close. Exploiting yourself sexually is not a good look. I don't find it encouraging," she said.

Adele has always had a fuller figure but she insists she would never go on a diet or change her image to try and be more successful. The 24-year-old singer - whose last album 21 has sold over 23 million copies worldwide - prefers to just let her music define her. "I have never seen magazine covers and music videos and thought, 'I need to look like that to be a success.' To sell more records I don't need to go that. I just stand there and sing. I'm not worried that I'm a 'plus size' and so much bigger than other artists. No matter what you look like the key is to be happy with yourself," she is quoted as saying.