Singing legend ANDY WILLIAMS was so poor when he launched his solo career in the 1950s he had to eat dog food - and he enjoyed it.

The crooner, who has since performed alongside Michael Jackson, Ella Fitzgerald and Sir Elton John and gone on to release 18 gold albums, admits he hasn't always been successful.

He says, "It was an incredibly lonely time for me and very hard financially.

"At one point I was eating Alpo dog food, dividing the cans between my dog and myself.

"It didn't taste that bad when you heated it up, actually, just like meat and gravy, although I expect it was made from horse or something."