Lewis Capaldi has joked he will quit showbiz if his new music fails to set the charts alight.
The Someone You Loved singer, 25, is set to release new music for the first time in three years on Friday [September 9] and warns he could quit public life if his second record doesn't perform as well as his smash-hit debut offering, Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent.
Lewis - who recently revealed he has been diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome - says if his new single, Forget Me, fails to emulate the success of his previous releases he could be tempted to retreat from the spotlight, just like Queen’s bassist John Deacon did.
The Scottish singer - who has stripped off to his underpants to promote his new tune - says of his upcoming release: "If it flops you can pursue a career as a comedian? No, I won’t. If it flops I will retire from public life. I’ll be like John Deacon in Queen. No one’s heard of that c*** in ages.
"There’s me, a man who, let’s not beat around the bush, has accumulated a wealth already, and now I’m asking you to give me more of that, please, during a cost-of-living crisis."
"I’m aware of how f***ing mental that is. But unfortunately it’s the game we play," Lewis candidly added when speaking with The Sun.
Lewis' debut album Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent was in the Top 10 for a record 77 consecutive weeks following its release in 2019, and his first ever single Someone You Loved propelled the Scottish star to international fame the year prior to the album's release.
Ahead of the release of the first track from his follow-up album, Lewis stripped off for a bold billboard campaign, in which the singer-songwriter appears on huge posters in nothing more than a pair of white underpants in order to promote his new music.
"Took my clothes off and traumatised the general public all in the name of shameless self promotion. Sex sells.
"New single FORGET ME out the 9th September x," the jovial artist quipped on Twitter as the campaign was launched earlier this week.
He followed up his initial tweet with: "I swear to god if I’ve stripped down to my pants and put it on billboards all over the world to promote this new single just for it to be a massive flop I’ll be so embarrassed."
In addition to discussing his already-impressive career, Lewis recently shared a candid update with fans during an Instagram Live chat, in which he revealed he has recently been diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome.
The Hold Me While You Wait singer is being treated with Botox injections to freeze muscles to try to control the tics characteristic of Tourette’s, and reassures fans his shoulder twitches are " not as bad as it looks".
Lewis explained to fans how the diagnosis now 'makes so much sense', after re-watching some video interviews from the early days of career in 2018 where he can "can see that I’m doing it [tics]" when revisiting the old footage.
The singer - who releases new music for the first time in three years at the end of the week - describes Tourette's as "a new thing" and explains how he is learning new ways to cope with the condition all the time.
He describes some days as "more painful than others, sometimes it's quite uncomfortable", but it "comes and goes" and he can sometimes go months without experiencing it.
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