Sia's awkward Donald Trump encounter takes a gross turn

Sia's encounter with Trump did not go well. Photos / Supplied, AP

Aussie pop star Sia Furler has revealed an awkward encounter she suffered through with then-Presidential candidate Donald Trump backstage at Saturday Night Live.

The two both appeared on the same November 7 episode of SNL in 2015, Sia to perform her latest single and Trump to host. It was a year and a day before Trump would go on to win the 2016 US presidential election.

In a candid new interview with Rolling Stone, the Chandelier singer, 42, said she was bailed up backstage by Trump and his daughter Ivanka, camera in hand, insisting they pose for a photo together.

Sia said she immediately foresaw the potential outrage among her fanbase if she posed for a smiling selfie with the Republican candidate.

"Actually, do you mind if we don't? I have a lot of queer and Mexican fans, and I don't want them to think that I support your views," she told him.

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Trump appeared neither angry nor hurt: "Oh, no problem. Then don't," he told her.

"It was as if he viewed me as protecting my brand," said Furler. "He respected that."

However, for the singer — a "self-described co-dependent" who hates to hurt other people's feelings — the awkward encounter had an immediate and rather unsavoury effect.

"I was like, 'Thank you so much,' and then I went into my dressing room and had crazy diarrhoea."

Sia fans, that TMI anecdote might sound familiar — it was also her excuse for coming on stage late for the Melbourne leg of her Australian stadium tour in December last year. Due to fly from Sydney to Melbourne, bad weather instead forced her to drive.

"I may be five minutes late. We couldn't catch a plane due to weather, so drove thirteen hours then blew a tire which has given me crazy diarrhoea. Bear with me guys. I love you," she tweeted as fans gathered at the Melbourne show.

Elsewhere in the Rolling Stone profile, the journalist accompanied Furler as she filmed an advertisment for Google Assistant, a six-hour gig that net her a million dollars. Perhaps a Metamucil endorsement's next on the agenda.