LOS ANGELES - US pop star Mariah Carey called herself a "prude" in an interview with Playboy in the same issue she will appear on the cover in sensual photographs, the magazine revealed.

Mariah Carey (File Photo)

"I end up being very flirtatious, and people take it the wrong way," she told Playboy, famous for its nude centerfold pinup girls.

"I'm very much a prude. But I don't want to disappoint people, so maybe we shouldn't discuss that," said Carey, 36.

Carey, who has sold more than 170 million albums since beginning her career in 1990, appears in a flesh-colored swimsuit on the cover of Playboy's March "Sex and Music" issue landing on newsstands Friday, February 9, the magazine announced in a statement.