Soul icon Aretha Franklin has spoken out in defense of her recent weight gain, saying she is proud to be a voluptuous woman.

Franklin regrets starving herself for four decades to maintain a figure which would be accepted by the music industry.

But now the 63-year-old insists her fans are seeing the 'real' Aretha, who loves food, on stage for the first time.

She confesses, "For a long time I suffered so much trying to be what other people expected me to be and look like.

"I definitely was never meant to be a model-type walking down a runway - I'm just Aretha singing what she feels in her heart and soul."

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)