Ricky Martin says life was "very confusing" before he came out as gay.

The singer - who revealed he was homosexual last year - admits being a pop heartthrob in the 90s was hard work because he had to pretend he was interested in women for the sake of his female fans.

He told VH1's 'Behind the Music': "I was trying to believe so hard from the bottom of my heart that I was not gay because what I was presenting on stage was not that. So it was very confusing."

Ricky - who is father to three-year-old twins Matteo and Valentino, who were born via a surrogate mother - also says growing up as a Catholic in Puerto Rico meant it was hard for him to accept his sexuality.

He said: "You go to school and the first thing they ask you when you come back home is, 'Do you already have a girlfriend?' Automatically, society tells you that's what you are supposed to feel. You're not supposed to feel this and if you feel this, there's something really bad going on."

Ricky decided to come out as gay after becoming a father because he felt his children deserved him to be honest.

He said: "My babies were born and I was holding them and I said I need to be strong, I need to be happy and I need to do whatever it takes for them to grow in a house full of love, transparency and what am I going to teach them, how to lie? Kids are going to ask them about daddy and they just have to say, yeah, daddy's gay."