Elton John: 'I'm 60 going on 40'

Sir Elton John has denied he’s too old to become a dad.

The star, who stunned the world by announcing the birth of his surrogate son, Zachary, on Christmas Day, has been criticised for becoming a father at the age of 63.

But he told The Daily Telegraph: “A lot of people have said I’m a little old, but I’m 60 going on 40. I’m young at heart, I work hard, and I do more shows now than I ever did before.

“I’ll play football and tennis with him and I’m still an active kind of guy. But David (Furnish) is 15 years younger than me so I may leave some of the physical exercise to him.”

The singer, who counts two of the Beckham boys as godchildren, added: “I have 10 godchildren whom I spend a lot of time with every summer, so it’s not as if I haven’t been around children. I think I’ll do all right.”

Sir Elton also denied reports that he and David prepared for the new arrival with a team of 24-hour nannies and a new penthouse.

In a separate interview, he told the Daily Mirror: “All we did was stick a few photographs of animals up in his bedroom. We have one nanny and that’s it. This is about me and David loving a child.”

He told the paper: “The one sacrosanct time is bath and bedtime. David and I bath him, feed him, and put him to bed.

“I sing to him. I massage him. David and I read bedtime stories to him. We have a rocking chair in his room and the best thing in the world is rocking him to sleep, It’s like no other feeling in the world.”