James Arthur got hooked on poker amid the coronavirus lockdown

James confessed: "At the beginning of lockdown I was deep in the PokerStars app. I was entering $500 tournaments every couple of hours, just sitting on that app all day.

"I deleted the app for a little while as I sensed I was getting a bit carried away."

The 'Impossible' hitmaker also admitted to turning to cannabis as a means of coping with the stresses of lockdown.

He told The Sun newspaper's Bizarre column: "I was a bit of a wreck. I started smoking weed heavily again.

"I started eating irresponsibly as I thought, ‘no one is going to see me for ages’."

Meanwhile, James previously revealed he was considering moving into acting after "a few more arena tours".

The pop star explained that he'll likely jump careers once he's satisfied his thirst for playing arenas.

Speaking before the pandemic, he shared: "I feel like I have a lot more in me. I'd like this record to be a No.1, sell out a couple more arena tours then maybe call it a day and move into acting."

James has also confessed to feeling "overlooked" as a singer.

The pop star shot to fame when he appeared on 'The X Factor' in 2012, and he feels like his music career is limited because he came from the TV talent show.

He said: "Sometimes I feel like there's only so far I can go when you take into consideration where I came from, you know, I can only feel like I'm gonna be overlooked for so long in this field.

"It's amazing what I've been able to do since 'The X Factor' and sometimes I feel like I kind of used to make music for myself and to inspire other people and my competitive ego sometimes gets in the way."