British pop star Natasha Bedingfield was left red-faced in the recording studio after her songwriting partner declared his lust for her in a drunken text message.

The These Words singer was shocked when she received a late-night message from the writer containing a love poem - but saved him any embarrassment by pretending to think he was passing on lyrics to a new song.

The 26-year-old tells the New York Daily News, "I didn't know he fancied me until he sent me this text, some gushy poem.

"I figured he was drunk, so the next day I said, 'Those were great lyrics you wrote to me!' and he was like, 'Uh, yeah, lyrics!'"