Selena Gomez says she was banned from saying 'what the hell' because she was a 'role model'

Selena Gomez has opened up about how she had to protect her public image when she was younger.

The 30-year-old got her start on the Disney Channel and was one of a slew of child stars that had to be impeccable on and off the screen.

Considering it's a family-friendly company, Gomez had to make sure she was squeaky clean.

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But, she's now opened up about how tightly controlled that world was when she was navigating life as a teenager.

"I wasn’t a wild child by any means, but I was on Disney," Gomez told Vanity Fair in a recent interview that touched on her documentary about her own mental health, self-censorship, and Disney.

"So I had to make sure not to say 'What the hell?' in front of anyone.

"It’s stuff that I was also putting on myself to be the best role model I could be.

"Now I think being the best role model is being honest, even with the ugly and complicated parts of yourself."

So she decided to come clean in her own way.

"I’m just so used to censoring myself that [last year’s Apple TV+ documentary Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me] was (a) me wanting to let go, and (b) if they’re telling me to be quiet about it, that’s not good because that’s genuinely not the place I’m in anymore, she said.

"Maybe it was weird and uncomfortable for other people, and obviously I was worried, but I think it finally allowed me to start being open about everything.

"It’s not that I was kind of sad. I actually have things that are chemically imbalanced in my brain, and I need to understand what that is, take care of it, and nurture it. I’m not ashamed of it. I don’t ever feel, even for five seconds, that I’m crazy.

"My thoughts tend to ruminate, but it’s up to me to be proud of who I am and to take care of myself."

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The 'Lose You to Love Me' singer added that she was hyper-aware of her image as a child star.

Because of that, Gomez, now 30, reveals she never wants to hear people telling others 'don’t say that because it’ll seem bad' or 'you won’t get this job or that boy or that girl or whatever' as a consequence of just being themselves.

Her documentary, she reflects, was a bit of her 'rebelling'.

So no matter how you look at it, she sure has come a long way.

And, looking back, Gomez appears to be proud of the woman she has grown to be. And rightly so.