John Legend admits he "wasn't a great partner" to Chrissy Teigen early in their relationship.

The 43-year-old singer - who has Luna, six, and Miles, four, with his model wife of nine years - admitted he was "more selfish" when they first started dating.

Speaking to the 'On Purpose with Jay Shetty' podcast, he said: “I think I was more selfish then. I wasn’t a great partner at the beginning of our relationship.

"Even though I was very into her and very excited to be with her. I was still selfish. I was in my mid 20s, still not ready to fully be the committed partner that I am now.”

John explained how they are in a much better place at this point in their relationship.

He added: "Once you really figure out that you love someone and you really love so much about them and you really want to make it work with that person, like you have to decide, 'I’m going to do the things that I need to do to be a good partner in this relationship'.

“And I’ve just grown as a person ’cause of that too. When you stop being so selfish when you think about not only the joy you get from a situation and the pleasure you get from it, but you also think about your responsibly and your commitment in that situation.

"I think you just grow, and you mature. I think part of it is it’s just a matter of time. You need time to become that person you want to be.”

The couple faced a tough time after losing their son Jack to abortion at 20 weeks in 2020, with 36-year-old star Chrissy - who is currently pregnant - needing a "medical intervention" to save her own life.

John previously admitted he is still trying to come to terms with their loss.

He said: "We’ll never completely fill the hole in our hearts. That’s part of being human and part of being alive.

"We’ve experienced such pain and the goal is not to make it disappear but to learn to live with it."