Will.i.am has revealed that he technically died and came back to life after a swimming pool scare in his childhood.

The US superstar told CNBC that he misjudged the depth of a pool and went under in more ways than one.

The Voice UK coach admitted that he drowned after going underwater for a number of minutes, before a friend managed to resuscitate the singer. Will.i.am said:

"I was like, ‘Ma, can I go swimming?’ She was like ‘no, boy, you ain’t going in no swimming pool’. So my mom said no but I did the opposite. I’ve never been in a swimming pool and so I don’t know the difference between 3ft and 9ft – I’m thinking that everything is at the height that I’m at. So I’m walking and I start sinking and then I drown. I’m under water for about three or four minutes."

He added: "They gave me mouth to mouth and then I’m, like, dead. And then I come back. They took me to hospital and I’m in there for about a week or something. I almost lost my life. I did lose my life but when I came to and I was in the hospital… to see the worry on my mom and my uncle’s faces...And just the reminder of, like, don’t do things that you know you shouldn’t be doing. I shouldn’t have been swimming because I never knew how to swim."