'IF MY FILM HELPS JUST ONE PERSON, I'M THE LUCKIEST GIRL'

ACTRESS AND SINGER SELENA GOMEZ ON SHARING HER STRUGGLES IN A DOCUMENTARY AND PAVING THE WAY FOR SOME DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS

- LISA BLAKE

Selena Gomez has been open about her battle with anxiety and depression over the past six years and she is now hoping her candid new documentary will help other people speak out.

Explaining why she made the brave decision to lay bare her struggles and her tumultuous relationship with fame in Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, the singer says she wanted to educate young people about the importance of prioritising their mental health - and used herself as a "sacrifice" to help others "have the hard conversations".

Selena, 30, said, "I think someone actually asked me if I felt like I did too much. And I'm not going to lie, maybe there were a few moments that were scary to offer up. But at the same time, if you take anything away from this, I hope people understand my purpose here is supposed to be connection.

"I used myself as a sacrifice in order for people to have the hard conversations. But I'm also going to crawl in a hole now for a few months, so nobody sees me for a while. I did too much."

Selena started her journey to fame aged seven and her TV career took off when she appeared in children's series Barney & Friends aged 10. In 2007, when she was 15, she was given a starring role on the Disney Channel series Wizards Of Waverly Place. The following year she signed a deal with Hollywood Records.

Working under that record label, Selena released three albums with her former band, Selena Gomez & The Scene, which all reached the Top 10 of the US Billboard 200. In late 2010, when she was 18, she began dating pop star Justin Bieber, who was 16 at the time. Their on/off romance continued for the next eight years.

In 2013, her fame skyrocketed with the release of her debut solo album, Stars Dance, which topped the Billboard 200. Her second studio album, Revival, debuted at number one in the US in 2015.