'I abused my body in ways I'm not sure I'm proud of': Olly Alexander reveals he partied too much in his teens as he struggled to come to terms with his sexuality

Olly Alexander has revealed that he 'abused his body' and partied excessively during his teens as he struggled to come to terms with his sexuality.

The singer, 35, who rose to prominence as the lead vocalist of English pop band Years & Years, opened up while appearing on the latest episode of Paloma Faith's podcast, Mad Sad Bad with Paloma Faith, on Tuesday. 

During the candid conversation, Olly reflected on finding fame, battling denial about his sexuality, and his wild partying years in London. 

Speaking on the podcast, he said: 'My party years were a very formative time for me, and I met a lot of people and was very excited to be around other queer people who looked how I wanted to look, and could express themselves in such a celebratory liberation.

He continued: 'I was still in denial about my sexuality until I was like 19, until I found a friend and I could be honest with her.

Describing how quickly things escalated, he added: 'It's very easy to go in too deep, every night you're out, it's like a 3,4 day weekend of having not been to bed ... it can go too far.

'I loved a lot of that time, but I definitely abused my body in ways I'm not sure I'm proud of.'

Recalling his nights out, he added: 'We'd do Soho bars, and then I graduated to going out in East London, and then it would be every weekend... end up at East Bloc 6am, go to an afters, go to some guy's house... it was a very formative time for me.' 

Listeners can listen to the full interview with Paloma Faith on Mad Sad Bad now. 

Olly's latest interview comes after he said starring in the drama series, It's A Sin,  helped him confront his 'fear of HIV and sex'. 

Set against the backdrop of 1980s London, the Russell T. Davies scripted It's A Sin won multiple awards for its heart-wrenching portrayal of a gay community torn apart by the ravages of AIDS. 

But it was Olly who commanded the screen as Richie Tozer - a fun-loving young actor who would ultimately fall victim to the disease.

Already established as the lead singer of pop group Years & Years, Olly consequently received multiple award nominations, while the show earned a BAFTA TV win for its harrowing portrayal of a society left blindsided by the AIDS crisis. 

Last year, he reflected on his involvement in the Channel 4 mini-series in the September issue of Tatler, admitting that accepting the role helped him face an uncomfortable truth. 

He said: ‘I didn’t realise it until I went towards it, but I had inherited this fear around HIV and sex, which is connected to the shame I had about being gay. 

'It helped me unpack all of that. I never understood actors who say they brought their characters home with them until I did.'

In It's A Sin, Tozer is an openly gay man among friends, but remains closeted to his parents until they are forced to confront his sexuality head-on after discovering he has the AIDS virus. 

While Alexander has always been open about his own sexuality off-screen, he admitted a media advisor warned him not to ‘come out’ to the public when he first entered the music industry in his twenties. 

‘You’d never give that advice now, and it was terrible advice then,' he said. 'I knew it was never really going to be an option for me, but it did feel like a fork-in-the-road moment.’