Miley Cyrus has become so far removed from her former alter ego, Hannah Montana, that it’s almost hard to believe they were ever the same person. Since the beloved Disney Channel show ended in 2011, Cyrus hasn’t shied away from letting people know she was never anything like the persona that made her famous. But in a recent interview with Marie Claire, the 22-year-old revealed just how damaging growing up in the spotlight—especially the Disney spotlight—was for her.
“From the time I was 11, it was, ‘You’re a pop star!’” she told the magazine. “’That means you have to be blonde, and you have to have long hair, and you have to put on some glittery tight thing.’”
She continued, “I was told for so long what a girl is supposed to be from being on that show. I was made to look like someone that I wasn’t, which probably caused some body dysmorphia because I had been made pretty every day for so long, and then when I wasn’t on that show, it was like, Who the [expletive] am I?”
Cyrus added that she often worked 12-hour-long days on the set of Hannah Montana, and was given copious amounts of coffee to keep her awake during shoots. The show premiered in 2006 and shot her to superstardom when she was just 13 years old. She also revealed to Marie Claire that she suffered from anxiety and panic attacks throughout her teenage years.
Miley isn’t the first Disney star to admit to struggling with body image; back in 2010, Demi Lovato entered treatment for an eating disorder. And from Christina Aguilera to Selena Gomez, it seems like most former Disney stars have tried to distance themselves from the squeaky-clean brand that brought them fame in the first place.
When people think of good, wholesome role models for young girls, Miley Cyrus probably isn’t one of the first celebs that comes to mind. Girls look to Disney and other brands geared towards their demographic, but instead are inundated with impossible standards of beauty and perfection that are paralyzing, as they were for a young Miley. Perhaps if stars like Miley and Demi Lovato continue to shed light on their struggles, Disney might start to reconsider the effect its content has on its impressionable young viewers.