"I'm never gonna say a bad word about anybody ever again, let me tell you!" So says Sam Sparro, irrepressible loudmouth and pop's latest gay hero. He's referring, of course, to his now-infamous critique of Madonna's current incarnation as an R&B plaything.

"Wretched" and "absolutely vulgar" were some of the highlights of a rant that made him the number one enemy of Madge-lovers everywhere.

Now, Sam Sparro's attempting some damage control. He's not very good at it.

"I've had a lot of respect for Madonna over the years, but I'm just not crazy about what she's doing at the moment," he says diplomatically. "When I read it back, I was quite shocked at how harsh I was."

I provide a chance to make amends: given her penchant for working with hot young things, would Sparro ever accept an offer to collaborate with Lady Ciccone?

"I don't think so," he replies. "I could be wrong here, but I can't imagine working with her would be a lot of fun."

He's (marginally) kinder when asked his opinions of Kylie.

"It'd be great to meet Kylie, she's someone I really admired as a child. I can't say I've heard her new album (X) - I probably won't buy it. I've heard a couple of the singles off it, and it's just not something I would listen to."

Sparro's own story is an intriguing, cross-continental tale. Born in Sydney, he lived here until the age of 10. In the 15 years since then, he's jumped between LA, Australia and London.

"I've moved around a lot, so I do feel more of a citizen of the world than of any particular nationality," he says.

His time in LA included a brief stint as a 'dancer' (read: stripper) in a gay bar. He didn't make much money.

"I really enjoyed dancing in my underpants, but that was about it," he says.

Were the crowds respectful, or were his boy bits constantly manhandled?

"People were really vulgar, that was what I hated about it. It's to be expected though - what was I thinking?"

He now lives a more domesticated life with his stylist and boyfriend of two years, Adrian. The couple are shacked up with their cats, American Idol and Helen Keller.

"I named Helen Keller. When we got her home, she looked like she was blind, so it seemed like a fitting name," he explains.

Debut single Black & Gold, a brooding electro classic in the making, has been a huge success for Sparro, parking itself in the UK top five for weeks on end.

"To go from being an underground indie-pop artist in LA to being a big UK pop star was really strange," he says. The song is unashamedly spiritual in theme, and Sparro was brought up in the church, but has distanced himself from it in recent years.

"I couldn't see the correlation between the message of religion, and how people actually behave. Being gay or being an outcast, why would you be attracted to religion?"

Many of today's gay pop stars only come out after they've acquired a mass of fans. Was it ever put to Sparro that perhaps he should keep shtum about his sexuality in order to build a wider fanbase?

"Nobody ever said that to me. When people meet me, they recognise that I'm pretty audacious, and to disrespect me in that way would be a big fuck-up on their part," he says. "I'm proud of who I am."

By NICK BOND