Singer such a slave to her outrageous stage persona she cannot switch it off — even when she has sex

Sex-mad monster who makes love in the open ... Lady Gaga

LADY Gaga is now such a slave to her outrageous stage persona she cannot switch it off even when she has SEX, shocked insiders revealed yesterday.

The raunchy pop superstar has turned into a maneater whose bizarre and kinky antics are threatening to jeopardise her career, according to members of her inner circle.

One fearful pal said bluntly as a former member of the singer’s crew also spoke out: “She has completely lost her mind.”

The chum lifted the lid on how the 27-year-old New Yorker — real name Stefani Germanotta — has convinced herself she IS the alter ego fans see on stage.

The personality disorder is so total that her own mother — who sent her to be educated at a strict Catholic girls school — now calls her by her new name.

The friend said: “Nobody calls her Stefani. Even her mum calls her Gaga.

“She can no longer tell the difference between reality and performance.”

Her pal added: “It is like she is living her entire life in this alternate universe that she has created.”

The transformation means the Poker Face singer — once painfully insecure about her looks — is now sex mad.

The former crew member even described the singer as a “monster” — as the mega-star’s friend told how she:

BEDS fellas while putting on an extravagant Gaga-style “performance” complete with “weird stuff”.

LOVES to have sex where there is a risk strangers will see her.

REFUSES to take no for an answer if she sees a guy she fancies.

The friend described how Gaga mercilessly dumped her old flame for the actor who played him in her video for her track You & I.

She had written the song for Luc Carl — whom she had known since before she shot to fame.

But despite the pair having dated on and off for years she set her sights on Vampire Diaries star Taylor Kinney, 32 — stealing him from his then-girlfriend.

The pal said: “She was filming the promo for the song in Luc’s hometown of Nebraska — with him there — and had hired Taylor to play Luc in the video. So she cheated on her boyfriend with the man playing him in the music video — then dumped him. Taylor had a girlfriend and she told him she didn’t care.

“She takes what she wants — because she can.” The friend went on:

“She is obsessed with men. She will do anything to get a guy.

She is a complete exhibitionist and has had sex in places where she knows strangers can see her.

Her love-making is a big performance. She loves doing weird stuff in the bedroom. She is as extravagant in bed as she is on stage.”

The singer — racked with insecurity about her looks as a teenager — is said to have become obsessed with her appearance. Last week rumours swept the internet that Gaga had undergone a nose job.

A music industry insider said of her determination to improve her looks: “Stefani had dark hair but she dyed it blonde early in her career because she kept being told she looked like Amy Winehouse. She didn’t like that at all.

“She respected Amy’s career but didn’t want to look like her. She wanted to look like a supermodel.”

The source also told how Gaga had “a terrible relationship with food” — saying: “She was obsessed with having to be skinny and would starve herself and be sick after meals.

“She tells her fans to love themselves whatever their quirks — but does not always practise what she preaches.”

The ex-member of her crew told of witnessing the singer’s dark side during her moneyspinning Monster Ball world tour — which ran from 2009 to 2011. The source — who insisted on anonymity to avoid becoming a victim of the volatile performer’s wrath — said: “She would have a prayer circle before each show.

“One night she just suddenly turned on one of the backing singers, branding her unprofessional and ungrateful.

“She crucified her in front of dozens of people — she skinned this girl alive.

“It was so painful to watch — and no, you couldn’t step in.”

The insider scoffed: “She offers support to her fans who are victims of bullying and calls them her monsters — but she is a bully and a monster herself.”

The unfortunate backing singer is not the only one to have felt the full terrifying force of Gaga’s fury.

Former best friend Jennifer O’Neill, 42 — who met the singer before she found fame and went on to become her personal assistant — got an earful after she left the job, then demanded backpay.

The ex-PA is now suing Gaga for around £250,000 she claims to be owed in unpaid overtime — plus damages. The landmark case could change the employment rights of assistants working for demanding celebrities across the US.

Jennifer’s action — lodged against the singer’s Mermaid Touring Company in 2011 — is tipped to go to trial later this year.

Gaga has been left steaming — and branded her a “f****** hood rat who is suing me for money that she didn’t earn”.

The superstar added: “She thinks she’s the queen of the universe.

“And, you know what, she didn’t want to be a slave to one, because in my work and what I do, I’m the queen of the universe every day.”

Gaga’s former crew member said amid growing fears she is heading for a meltdown: “She is not afraid of firing people.

“The way things have turned so sour now shows how Gaga will spit people out without a second thought.” The singer — who last year earned more the £50million to top the list of highest-paid celebs under 30 — is also embroiled in other legal battles.

They include a bitter war to prevent “harmful” details of a lawsuit between her former collaborator Wendy Starland and ex-boyfriend and producer Rob Fusari being made public.

Gaga is also being sued for £20million by a French artist called Orlan who is accusing the singer of plagiarism.

Last week the singer unveiled plans to release her long-awaited new album Artpop in November — in an announcement that was blasted as one of the most pretentious in music history.

She pompously promised the album will “bring art culture into pop in a reverse Warholian expedition.” Fans were told the release — to be accompanied by an app — would allow them to “share in the adrenalin of fame”.

It was all a far cry from her roots in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, where she was born into a typical Italian-American New York family — the daughter of entrepreneur Joe and his wife Cynthia.

Before becoming world-famous she battled drug problems.

Her pal said: “She had a really dark spell where she was drinking too much and taking a lot of cocaine.

“She was a real mess. You would never have guessed she would turn into an international superstar.”

The friend said Gaga still resorts to boozing heavily from time to time, adding: “She went through a spell of drinking a lot of Scotch. That probably had something to do with impressing a boy.”

Laid bare: Her £52m earnings

SHE may look loopy but Lady Gaga is a shrewd businesswoman — estimated to be worth £52million.

The dosh started rolling in with international hits such as Just Dance and Poker Face from her 2008 debut album The Fame.

Worldwide she has sold an estimated 23million albums and a whopping 64million singles.

But even more lucrative have been her hugely-successful tours.

Other ventures include collaborating with Polaroid and with Monster Cable Products — to create a pair of in-ear jewel-encrusted headphones titled Heartbeats.

Like most pop stars Gaga also coins it by flogging plenty of merchandise.

Sometime the role or persona played by an artiste on stage can become so blur with the reality he or she is in real life and sooner or later, that person may begin to play the stage role as their true self.

It may not be regarded as a bad thing unless when you consider the stage persona of that artist to be one of egocentric and berserk behavior not comparable with decent living. Just because you act like a fool and maniac on stage and sell music doesn't mean that people will like it if you act in a similar manner in right life.

There has to be a clear distinction, especially if your stage mannerisms isn't something that can be considered as appropriate in real life.

And there lies the problem of this generation. If we like something that is bad, why don't we also want that bad thing in our lives or in the lives of those around us. He is a jovial sex maniac, people like him in the movies but you will never want him for a husband. You love his character on the screen but you won't want him in your life exhibiting similar character. Isn't that funny and a bit hypocritical?