Lady Gaga, the US pop icon known as much for her striking outfits and propensity to shock as for her music, says that while sex isn't a bad thing, her youngest fans shouldn't follow her example.

'I think young kids should wait as long as they can before they have sex - and they should use protection from the first time to the last time,' Lady Gaga told journalists during a visit to Germany this week.'Sex is not wrong, sex is real life,' she added.

Not a song had been written that was not in some part about sex.'It's sort of what makes the world go round.'The 25-year-old star met the press after midnight Thursday in a luxury hotel on the outskirts of Cologne. 

She appeared in a low-cut, floor-length Versace dress, wearing latex gloves from which long, scarlet fingernails protruded. Her heavily made up eyes were framed by a turquoise bob.

'I don't think the way I act or dress is the most interesting (thing about me) - I think everybody is beautiful in their own way,' she insisted.

Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, was visiting Bergisch Gladbach - home of German supermodel Heidi Klum - to appear in an episode of the TV talent show Klum hosts, Germany's Next Topmodel.

'I always try to get dressed with a little bit of humor. It's not about being sexy or just being attractive, it's about having fun,' Gaga said - admitting she'd rather dispense entirely with clothing.

'I sometimes feel naked with clothes on, I feel less naked with no clothes, I feel quite comfortable in my underwear or in see-through things,' she said.

Lady Gaga's videos have been viewed more than a billion times on YouTube, and she has a loyal fan base who she refers to as her 'little monsters.''I don't like the word 'groupies',' Gaga said, adding that it was not her huge popularity that made her feel famous.

'I always felt famous, because I think fame comes from inside,' she said. 'I felt so famous when I was living in New York all alone and nobody knew who I was.'

'The fame is not so much about the attention and the cameras, it's much more about the influence and the impact I actually have on my fans and on the world,' Gaga said.

Lady Gaga, whose best known hits include Poker Face and Telephone, has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide. Her astute use of social media has earned her more than 37 million Facebook fans, and she was the first artist to reach 10 million followers on Twitter.

The star said she loved the German capital, Berlin, for its museums, art and culture - while the inspiration for one of her latest songs came from a night out in one of the city's nightclubs.

The track, on her latest album Born This Way, is called Scheisse - which is German for 'shit.''I meant it like 'shit' that's good. But I also meant it the other way because this song is really about wanting to be a strong female without all the bullshit that comes along with that ... making your way by being brave.'

dpa