Lulu has always been a "very private" person.

The 76-year-old singer shot to fame as a teenager in the 1960s with her now-signature song Shout but insisted that "nobody knows" who she really is because she has always been "very careful" when it comes to choosing what she reveals about herself.

Speaking on BBC's The One Show, she said: "A friend of mine once said to me 'People think they know Lulu, but nobody knows you...' and I think it's partly to do with the fact that I come from a Scottish mother who said 'Don't wash your dirty linen in public!'

"So I was very...I've always been very careful, very private. I'm chatty, but I keep a lot of things to myself, so now I'm talking about everything."

The Eurovision star is heading out on tour across the UK in October to discuss her life, and explained that she has only decided to do so now because she comes from a generation where there was "a lot of shame" associated with talking about issues but things have since changed.

She said: "This is mainly because the landscape has changed. When I was young, when my mother was young, you didn't talk [about things]. Everything was a secret, and there was a lot of shame because you didn't talk about stuff but today talk about things and I think it's healthier. Some overshare, but hopefully I won't! All the ups and downs I've had - and I've had a life, let's put it like that - I've had an amazing, amazing life but I've also had certain things in my life that I've never discussed.

"When I go on stage, on my tour, I'm gonna have very special people ask questions on stage about my life, and I'm gonna reveal stuff, how I've come through certain things.

"Maybe people can relate to it, and if I've managed to come through it, maybe it will help someone else. That's the way it is today and it is so much healthier."