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Lady Gaga has thanked her fans for understanding the "meaning of real beauty and compassion" after admitting she has piled on 25 pounds.
The Poker Face singer was recently snapped looking slightly bigger than usual - sparking rumours that she was pregnant - and later announced that she was dieting after gaining weight "eating pasta and pizza" at her dad's Manhattan restaurant.
She has now tweeted her fans, who she refers to as her "little monsters", saying: "And thank to my fans who love me no matter what, and know the meaning of real beauty&compassion. I really love you."
Gaga, 26, also posted a picture of curvy screen legend Marilyn Monroe with a caption saying: "To all the girls that think you're ugly because you're not a size 0, you're the beautiful one. It's society who's ugly."
Last week the star told radio host Elvis Duran: "I'm dieting right now, because I gained, like, 25 pounds.
"And you know I really don't feel bad about it, not even for a second. I have to be on such a strict diet constantly. It's hard because it's a quite vigorous show, so I tend to bulk up, get muscular, and I really don't like that. So I'm trying to find a new balance."
Gaga, who is dating The Vampire Diaries' Taylor Kinney, explained that she couldn't resist eating the Italian food at her father's New York eatery.
