When we were given a chance to interview singer Jason Derulo, we knew it would be good fun to chat to him, but we didn’t think that we would beat him in a thumb war... 

So you’ve sold more than 17 million singles.

It’s amazing! 17 million is crazy, I didn’t know there were that many people in the world. I’m joking!  Once you write these songs, you never know how people are going to react to them, so it’s really incredible that the reception has been so crazy and that’s why I have my fans to thank for that.

Have you ever walked into a shop or a bar and your song has been playing?

I walk into shops all the time and my song is playing. I was actually the ‘Most Played New Artist of 2010’ on the radio so I couldn’t go anywhere without hearing my song on the radio.

What do you do when that happens?

I sing along if I’m by myself but if there are other people
around I don’t sing. It’s kind of embarrassing – I do know the words though! 

What was the first moment you stood back and thought: “Wow I’m famous?”

I think when I started getting free stuff. It seems like everything is now becoming free. But, when I didn’t have anything, no-one was giving anything to me. It’s kind of backwards. 

What’s the best freebie you’ve had?

Probably when I go to restaurants and they give me the food for free. For some reason the food tastes better when it’s free! 

Is it hard to handle so much fame at such a young age?

It’s hard to handle certain aspects of the fame. Not being able to see my family can get pretty rough sometimes. Not being able to go out by myself is kind of weird too. 

So do you get recognised by fans a lot?

Oh yes, all the time, I do! 

We read you wrote your first song at the age of eight?

Yes, the song was called Crush on You and it was about a girl in my class called Amy. I didn’t have any money so I didn’t know what to get her so, because writing a song is free, I wrote a song!

Which award means the most to you?

I won ‘Songwriter of the Year’ alongside Lady Gaga whch was by far the best award that I have ever won and could ever win. The songs that I write mean everything to me. 

Tell us about your new album Future History… 

It’s my second album. It’s going to be quite different from the first one because I’ve grown up a lot in the past few years. I’ve travelled the world and seen so much, so writing the album was very easy because I was just oozing out this information that I acquired. There are upbeat records, emotional records, love stories – so many different songs.

What does Future History mean? 

It represents where I have come from. I am going to be the person in the history books in the future. 

It Girl is on sale now and Future History is out on 10 October. 

If you want to see First News challenge Jason Derulo to a thumb war, watch the video below…