Chris Martin on a diet

Chris Martin is on a diet.

The Coldplay frontman revealed the whole band has been forced to swap tasty "baked goods" for salads after they piled on the pounds while working on their new album 'Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends'.

Chris said: "It happens whenever we have some downtime, usually between albums. We get very hairy and kind of morph into Bill Oddie (British TV presenter) – we have stacked on the weight."

The singer revealed he decided to do something about his weight after receiving weight loss advice from an unusual source – Primal Scream bassist Mani. Chris added to Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper: "Mani was eating a sandwich and I asked him what was in it.

He told me it was salad and that I should eat the same. Mani warned us that nobody wants a fat pop star."

Chris has now banned calorific club sandwiches from their catering menu while they are on tour promoting their new album.

A source said: "They love club sandwiches and know they would be tempted to eat quite a few if they were available."

Meanwhile, Chris has demanded some of the band's tour merchandise should be dropped. The group's 67-date tour kicked off in Los Angeles on Monday (14.07.08) and the singer is insisting only high quality products should be sold.

He said: "We were in the dressing room in Los Angeles looking at some of the stuff and much of it, especially some of the T-shirts, looked terrible. We made it clear the tour has to be a no c**p zone."