NICKI MINAJ says she was a bit of a tea-leaf in her youth.

The rap superstar admitted she had her collar felt for shoplifting as a teen in New York.

She said: "I remember me and my friend, when we were in high school, we always used to steal clothes. I`ll always remember the one time we got busted. It`s always stuck with me.

"We didn`t get taken away by the cops, but we got manhandled and taken away to the basement. We had to give them our names and they were basically like, `Because you`re so young we`ll just ban you from the store.`"

And rightly so.

Now Nicki`s on the straight and narrow, she`s using every opportunity she can to keep her income topped up.

Take her foray into horticulture for instance.

As a special Valentine`s Day promotion, the colourful rap queen has teamed up with an online florist to offer her fans a treat when the use they site to order bouquets.

Anyone who uses t`internet to send a bunch of flowers to their loved ones will get a free download of one of her album tracks, Moment 4 Life, Save Me or Right Thru Me.

She tweeted: "Yes! I`ve teamed up with 1-800-FLOWERS to ensure all my dudes get some a** this Valentine`s Day."
sections: Celebrities