Janet Jackson shuts down 40 year old rumour in new documentary

In a preview clip from her upcoming documentary Janet, the singer finally spoke out. Photo / Getty Images

Janet Jackson has slammed speculation she had a "secret" child in the 1980s.

The 55-year-old singer - who has 4-year-old son Eissa with ex-husband Wissam Al Mana - recalled gossip that she and then-husband James DeBarge had had a baby during their year-long marriage but she had given her offspring to her brother Jackie to raise, as well as speculation that her nieces Brandy and Stevanna were actually her daughters because they look like her.

In a preview clip from her upcoming documentary Janet, she said: "Back in the day they were saying that I had a child and I kept it secret. I could never keep a child away from James. How could I keep a child from their father? I could never do that, that's not right."

Jackson suggested the rumours stemmed from her gaining weight when filming TV show Fame after she started taking birth control pills.

She said: "A lot of the kids thought I was pregnant, 'cause I had gained weight, and I had started taking birth control pills. And back then, you could pick up weight taking them, and that's what happened to me. So that rumour started going around."

Jackson was just 18 when she married DeBarge in 1984 and though he was a "sweet guy", she blamed his drug use for their union being annulled after just a year.

She recalled of their wedding night: "When we got married and came back to the hotel he said, 'OK, I'll be right back.'

"And I'm sitting in the hotel room in Grand Rapids, Michigan by myself, just 18, and for three hours, he never came back. I don't know, maybe it's this person in me that wants to help people subconsciously. When it comes to relationships, somehow I'm attracted to people that use drugs."

Jackson told how she spent many nights searching the streets for DeBarge and would try and flush his pills down the toilet, but ultimately she couldn't give him the help he needed.

She said: "We would be rolling on the floor fighting for them. And that's not a life for anyone.

"I sit and I say, 'Were you stupid, were you dumb?' But it wasn't that. I cared so much for him, and I saw the good in him as well and I just wanted that to take precedence as opposed to this ugliness. 'Cause I knew that he needed help. But I wasn't the help that he needed.

"I was just incredibly innocent. That's the thing, is the innocence. And it's just hurtful for someone to see that and just try to take advantage of it ... It's still painful."