A Christmas Miracle? Pop Brat Justin Bieber Announces Retirement... Aged 19

BEFORE the One Directioners, there were the Beliebers.

BOMBSHELL: Justin has revealed that he plans to retire after his next album [YOUTUBE]

But the hearts of millions of these fanatics could be shattered today at the news that Justin Bieber may be retiring from music.

Although we can hardly blame the star– working at the age of 19 must be incredibly tiring.

The bratty teenager made the shock announcement when he dropped by radio station Power 106 LA for an interview.

When asked by the interviewer about his new album Journals, which is due out on Monday, Justin huskily replied: "Um, I'm actually retiring, man."

He continued: "I'm just gonna take some time, I think I'm probably gonna quit music."

DIVA FEVER: Justin didn't take off his sunnies while in the studios [TWITTER]

BABYFACE BIEBER: Justin has changed a lot since his pop debut [REX]

In the short clip of the interview, which is due to be aired today on the Los Angeles station, the superstar appeared to be extremely straight-faced when dropping the bombshell– despite some insiders claiming that it was all just a bad joke.

However, if it was a joke, it didn't stop there. Power 106 tweeted several quotes from the chat before its broadcast, and the Boyfriend singer said: "I want to grow as an artist and I'm taking a step out, I want my music to mature."

Perhaps Justin has his words mixed up– maybe by "retiring" he means going on hiatus.

For the sake of the devoted Beliebers, we'd better hope that the controversial star is just pulling our legs.

Justin's fans flooded to Twitter after the video hit the internet, and many seemed in denial that their idol could be disappearing from the music world.

DEVASTATED: The Beliebers flocked to Twitter after the announcement [TWITTER]

One devastated fan wrote: "If this is true about Justin Bieber retiring I am hibernating until someone says it's a joke".

However, more Twitter users were less broken up about the news, labelling the declaration "a Christmas miracle".

Elsewhere in the interview– which the singer conducted wearing a pair of diva-esque black sunnies– Justin seems to be making excuses for his recent string of bad boy behaviour, including being snapped leaving a brothel, spitting on fans and dumping a bong out of his tour bus.

The teenager said: "I'm 19, I'm gonna make mistakes, it's inevitable", before adding: "People think I'm arrogant, I'm not, I've always been a caring and giving person".

SUPERSTAR: Justin's lucrative career means he probably could retire for good [PA]