Singer and animal rights activist Leona Lewis has spoken out against the tradition of horse racing and explained that it's very similar to bullfighting because it's cruel and stressful to the horses.

Speaking to Hello! magazine, the 'Bleeding Love' beauty admitted that she's saddened by events such as the UK's Grand National because it encourages people to pump money into the sport, which often results in untimely deaths of the animals that are forced to take part:

"When something needs to be said, it needs to be said. I feel the Grand National is so old and outdated, it's like bullfighting. All the girls turn up in hats and nice dresses and people are betting, while animals are being run into the ground and just dying. It's disgusting, awful. They've got their pretty dresses on while these horses are getting broken necks, broken shoulders, being shot..."

"What's sickening is that people make so much money out of it. But it's cruel, it's abusive and it's not fair."

Watch her cover Bruno Mars's 'Locked Out Of Heaven' during a recent concert here: