The 32-year-old former Pussycat Doll, who has just been confirmed as Cheryl Cole's replacement on the US X Factor, said that she was always surprised that she wanted to be a performer because she was so soft.
She told the Daily Mail, 'I was the most fragile, vulnerable kid and very easily hurt. I'd burst into tears if anyone was mean.
'It always amazes me how this kid who was so easily knocked also had this burning desire to perform. I wanted to sing, to act, to get up on a stage and show what I could do, but when I was off that stage I was hurt by the slightest thing.
'I see that same contradiction in so many of these X Factor hopefuls.'