Paul McCartney has said that when he was growing up he always thought of vegetarians as being wimps.

McCartney was converted to vegetarianism by his late wife Linda and revealed his old thoughts on the subject as he promoted the meat-free lifestyle she pioneered in a Huffington Post blog. The former Beatles star writes: “Growing up in Liverpool, I would have thought of a vegetarian as a wimp. We could be a prejudiced bunch at times but I’m not sure people would automatically think like that these days.”

He went on to add: “I’ve been a vegetarian for a long time now and over the years I’ve seen how the attitudes have changed around the world, so I’m not surprised when I see new research that shows more and more people are increasingly adopting ‘meat-free eating’. Even 20 years ago, it could sometimes be difficult to find vegetarian options in good restaurants. Now it’s great to see more and more choice with some brilliant creative dishes in restaurants, cafés and supermarkets. There is definitely now an overall greater acceptance of being vegetarian.”

McCartney is set to provide the music for a new animated TV advert for Linda’s range of vegetarian foods. His song, recorded in studio sessions with Mark Ronson, will be revealed when the advert airs on January 28. The #LoveLinda campaign will mark the first time in 15 years that the Linda McCartney brand has done TV advertising with the ad featuring an animated version of the McCartney family.

In addition to McCartney, Elvis Costello has recorded the voiceover on the advert. Speaking about fellow vegetarian Linda, Costello said: “Linda always talked well and made it seem that you wouldn’t be joining a secret weird society by being vegetarian.”