Singer Duncan James, who is part of British boyband Blue, has revealed that when the press began to suggest he was dating one of the Spice Girls he just let the rumour spiral out of control to keep his sexuality a secret.

The star came out as bisexual in 2009 and told The Mirror that because the media distracted people with the story about his supposed relationship with Geri Halliwell it took the pressure away from the fact that he was hiding who he really was:

"She was a good beard. People were saying I was a lothario and a ladies' man, and then that I was seeing Geri, but I wasn't. The truth is I was just a friend to these people. But I hid behind the Geri rumours - she was cool with it - and she proved to be a great disguise."

He also recently opened up about the backlash from speaking publicly about being a bisexual man and confessed that one internet user told him they hoped he would die from AIDS.

Watch Blue perform an acoustic rendition of 'Sex On Fire' here: