Madonna says she got whiplash after falling off stage during "horror show" BRIT Awards performance

The Queen of Pop said 'I'm never writing lyrics like that again - the universe was trying to teach me a lesson'

Madonna has said that she got a "little bit of whiplash" after falling off the BRITs stage, and described the performance as a "horror show".

Talking on the Jonathan Ross Show, Madonna said that she had suffered a minor injury and that her dancers "strangled her off stage".

"My two lovely Japanese dancers, they basically strangled me off the stage. I had two choices, I could either be strangled or fall, and I chose to fall," she told host Jonathan Ross.

Explaining how the mishap came about, the 56-year-old singer said: "I was thrown a wrench at the beginning of the performance. I was told to tie my cape and start much further back and I had to walk further and everyone was worried my cape was slide off so they tied it really tight around my neck," she told Ross on the ITV programme, which is due to be broadcast on 14 March.

"So here I am marching in like the Queen, I got to the top of the stairs and I pulled the silky string and it wouldn't come undone."

The hard-working pop star added that her performance fell well below her normal high standards. "It was a nightmare, I like to be amazing, I rehearse and rehearse so when I do a show it is effortless and I create magic. I did the opposite, I actually created a horror show for everyone."

Madonna fell off stage while performing new song Living For Love, which includes lyrics about falling down: "I'm gonna carry on, lifted me up, and watched me stumble."

"I'm never writing lyrics like that again - the universe was trying to teach me a lesson," she told Ross.

After the incident, Madonna updated her Instagram feed to tell her fans that she was well, and thanked them for their concern.

"I didn't hurt my butt, but I hurt my head," she told Ross. "I know how to fall, I have fallen off my horse many times. I had little bit of whiplash, I smacked the back of my head. And I had a man standing over me with a flashlight until about 3am to make sure I was compos mentis.

"I am always nervous of live TV, when you're singing you can't make any mistakes, the worst thing is you fall down stairs. I like to make my shows dangerous but then there is danger," she said.