British rapper Lady Sovereign has confirmed reports she is a lesbian, insisting she'd have 'come out' sooner if publicists hadn't persuaded her to keep her sexuality a secret.

The 24 year old, who was Jay-Z's one-time protege at Def Jam, has been dogged by rumors about her sexuality - and fueled reports by admitting she had enjoyed same-sex trysts during a recent stint on British reality TV show "Celebrity Big Brother."

Now the star has finally come clean about her sexual persuasion, revealing she was advised not to tell the truth about being gay when she first became famous.

She tells gay magazine Diva, "Magazines would always ask about it (sexuality) but (they) would get stopped by my publicists. It was my choice, too, because I was a bit worried about it - but now I don't really give a s**t.

"You can't hide away forever. It's just stupid and now I've come out I feel a lot more comfortable with myself. But it was a bit scary back then, because some people do have horrible opinions."

See more photos of Lady Sovereign here!