The `Anything Could Happen` singer struggled to cope with the pressures of being a pop star when she first got famous and used to think she was having a heart attack because the episodes were so frightening. 7

Ellie was eventually prescribed Diazepam - a sedative used to treat anxiety - for her panic attacks but she didn`t want to take the drug.

In an interview with The Sun newspaper, she said: "There were times when I felt like I was having a heart attack. There was too much adrenaline and my heart was pounding. It`s just such a horrible, horrible thing to go through.

"I hadn`t even released my first proper single when I started to feel the strain of attention. But I don`t believe that it was the attention that was giving me panic attacks.

"I think it was everything in my life colliding at the same time.

"It really did get to a serious point where I couldn`t even walk down the street without getting the pain.

"I`d have a numb arm, a very strange lump in my throat and a really hot chest, like my heart was on fire.

"I had to take Diazepam but I found it debilitating."

Ellie, 25, started having cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which has helped her cope with the pressures in her life.

The 25-year-old musician - who is getting ready to release her new album `Halcyon` next week - revealed: "I couldn`t do anything so I had cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) instead and that actually really worked.

"The other day I was in Germany and it was a really hectic day and I thought, `Oh god here we go,` but I laid down, started breathing, closed my eyes and told people not to talk to me, and then I was fine."
sections: Celebrities