Miley Cyrus regrets iconic Wrecking Ball music video

Miley Cyrus has opened up about her regrets over her sexualised image in recent years, including her infamous 'Wrecking Ball' music video.

The pop star explained how the bold stunts were simply a plea to separate herself from her former Disney star persona.

30-year-old Cyrus has struggled with feelings of guilt after she experimented with racy content and references to drugs and sex in her music and videos.

The former Disney star first shot to fame at a young age with hit children's TV show, Hannah Montana.

Starring herself, her father Billy Ray Cyrus and even featuring cameos from country icon and Cyrus' godmother, Dolly Parton, Hannah Montana was a highly successful show adored by young pre-teens around the globe.

However, as Cyrus began to grow up, she wanted to distance herself from the teen icon image she portrayed and grow into something that reflected the adult she had become.

In 2013, aged 20, Cyrus shocked the planet by twerking in tiny PU-latex outfit and sticking her tongue out throughout number one hit 'We Can't Stop'.

She continued to shock even more by stripping completely naked and straddling a bulldozer ball in the video for hard-hitting track 'Wrecking Ball'.

Cyrus received a lot of criticism from viewers and was labelled as a bad role model to her army of fans - the majority of whom were young girls and teenagers.

But now, a decade on from her Bangerz era, the singer has reflected on this time period in her life.

The 'Nothing Breaks Like A Heart' singer told Vogue in an exclusive interview: "I carried some guilt and shame around for years because of how much controversy and upset I really caused.

“Now I’m an adult, I realise how harshly I was judged.”

A decade on from 'Wrecking Ball', Cyrus couldn't be more different from her past, as the ex-partier is now two years sober from alcohol, explaining that now she is 'just evolved'.

Cyrus prefers to stay out of the limelight where possible and has been dodging it since releasing her latest album, Endless Summer Vacation in March this year.

She has also opened up about a secret health issue that's been affecting her, causing 'chronic pain and inflammation'.

"After the album [came out] I had a flare-up,” she said of an episode earlier this year. “I was in a lot of pain."

The star even admitted: “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.”