Reggae star Shaggy has given up sleeping with different women and acting like "a whore" since finding love with his mystery new girlfriend.

The IT WASN'T ME singer, 36, has "lost count" of the number of lovers he's had and admits he slept with groupies, despite being in an eight-year-long relationship with CAROL, the mother of his two sons, RICHARD, nine, and six-year-old TYLER.

He explains, "I've had infidelities in my life and I'm not going to sit here and lie about them.

"The mother of my kids left me because she couldn't put up with my cheating ways and I'm certainly not proud of my behaviour.

"But I was having too much fun to care about the consequences.

"I was a whore. On tour I was sleeping with different women every night. I lost count of the number of women I slept with. I wouldn't even be able to guess. Groupies were throwing themselves at me and I loved every minute of it.

"That's the reason everyone gets into the music industry - for the girls and the money.

"When you're on the road for six months at a time and there are gorgeous strangers throwing themselves at you, you have moments of weakness."

Shaggy is now enjoying a monogamous relationship with an unnamed 25-year-old Jamaican documentary producer.

05/08/2004 21:22