Miley Cyrus has revealed her battle with shame after over-sexualising her image to shake off her Disney child-star past.
The pop colossus, 30, said she had experienced years of guilt over racy references to drugs and sex in her music.
Miley revealed: “I was creating attention for myself because I was dividing myself from a character.”
A decade later, her lifestyle could not be further away from her old party-loving ways — with the star, two years sober, saying: “I’m just evolved.”
Miley has been dodging the limelight since releasing her No1 hit album Endless Summer Vacation in March.
It told of the demise of her eight-month long marriage to Australian actor Liam Hemsworth, 33 — and reflected on finding love again with Lilly drummer Maxx Morando, 24.
But Miley said the reason she went off-grid was to prevent the flare-up of a secret health issue, involving “chronic pain and inflammation”, made worse by being under a spotlight.
She no longer has an appetite for embarking on a massive global tour, like chart-topping peer Dua Lipa, 27 — and may release new music soon which will reflect on her newfound state of calm.
Miley confessed: “Singing for hundreds of thousands of people isn’t really the thing that I love.
“There’s no connection. There’s no safety. It’s so isolating because if you’re in front of 100,000 people then you are alone.”
