Katherine Jenkins: I was punched and kicked by would-be rapist

Katherine Jenkins has revealed how she was almost raped when she was a student in London.

Relived terror: Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins

The Welsh opera singer broke down in tears during a TV interview with journalist Piers Morgan as she relived the terrifying experience.

The 29-year-old said she had feared for her life as she was followed while walking home alone after a night out with pals from the Royal Academy Of Music.

She said: "I was walking across the bridge, near Paddington. I felt someone too close to me and he, within seconds, was in front of me, trying to drag me down this gangway and the police believe he was trying to rape me. I remember my purse was there so I knew he wasn't just trying to mug me. Somehow I managed to get out of his grip. I wanted to kill him. I was so angry about it."

Jenkins, who was 17 when she won a scholarship to the Academy, said her attacker punched her and threw her against a wall but she curled up in a ball on the floor and he kicked her twice before fleeing with her purse.

Piers Morgan's Life Stories: Katherine Jenkins airs Saturday, 10pm on ITV1.