Throughout years of reinvention, she has steadfastly stuck to one mantra - sex sells.

But now, after making a career as a controversial, no-holds-barred sex siren, Madonna has admitted that she pushed her explicit image too far.

At 46, she has spoken out against her early, headline-grabbing years, claiming that they may have misled her legion of young fans.

'Sometimes I was being overtly sexual for the sake of showing off when I didn't need to be. I think I hurt myself,' the singer told the American magazine, Ladies' Home Journal.

'Ultimately none of us wants to be judged, or approved of, or loved because of the way we look, or how sexy we are.

'One minute I was saying believe in yourself and the next minute I was saying just be sexually provocative for the sake of being sexually provocative.

'I was letting it pump up my ego, thinking aren't I great, they're writing about me, my picture's on the cover of every magazine, I'm so fabulous.'

The Like A Virgin singer's admission comes just days after the publication of her fifth children's book, Lotsa De Casha, which she hopes will complete her makeover from raunchy star to demure mother of two.

It is not known whether Madonna's devotion to Kabbalah, a mystical offshoot of Judaism, has anything to do with her newfound bashfulness.

But it seems the queen of pop - who has a 1992 picture book called Sex to her name - has something of a hazy, and indeed short-term, memory.

Just last year she completed her Reinvention tour which, as well as netting her £65million, involved a number of flesh-baring costumes.

And earlier this year Madonna, who married the film director Guy Ritchie in December 2000, fronted a £ 5million advertising campaign for Versace posing as a vampish businesswoman.

But that is tame compared to some of her previous incarnations - such as her 1990 Blonde Ambition tour when she cavorted on stage in a coneshaped bra and fishnet stockings.