Nicole Scherzinger reveals scary truth behind glamour

Nicole Scherzinger, American singer-songwriter who is best known for her time as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, is opening up about what life was really like behind the scenes, revealing dark secrets about glamour.

The 46-year-old star started out with the girl group Eden Crush before hitting it big with the Pussycat Dolls. But she says life in the spotlight wasn’t easy. Back then, no one really talked about mental health, and as a young woman, she felt a lot of pressure to be perfect.

Nicole shared with PEOPLE: "I think a lot of people in the industry battle with this feeling of it never being enough."

"You have this insatiable hunger within you that it's just like, it never feels like enough.

"We want that validation. We want that acceptance, and we want to be seen. I was very hard on myself ...

A lot of things have changed in the past 20 years. People are just more aware and talk about mental health. We didn't talk about those things back in the day," she added.

The singer continued, "And I grew up in an extremely religious family and had a very sheltered life. So even though I was in Eden’s Crush and touring around the world at 22, I felt more like a 16-year-old."

However, Nicole further said that being a pop star while still figuring out who she was felt scary. She was growing up in front of the world, trying to find her voice and feel comfortable in her own skin under the spotlight.