Goulding: It was a strange time

The singer was thrust into the spotlight when she topped the BBC's Sound Of 2010, the annual poll of music industry tipsters on who they think will succeed in the coming year, and scooped the Brits Critics' Choice award the same year.

Looking back on that time, she said: "I was a little bit scared of everything that was happening before.

"It was a very strange time and I obsessed over everything."

But Ellie - who released her second album Halcyon in October - said she is more relaxed these days.

"Now I've reached a point where I can brush off things and have no baggage and can just do what I want to do. Now there's no hype or expectation, and people's unfounded perception of me has disappeared," she said.

"I'm not in that position any more where I have to impress people who've never heard of me before. I'm relaxed and I can just tour my new record. I've probably gained some new fans with the new album, and lost some too, but that's what happens.

"Now, I think people either like me or they don't, but there probably aren't people who are still undecided."

:: Ellie Goulding begins her UK tour on December 7.