Ariana Grande reveals how being a child star affected her, as she steps away from the spotlight

Ariana Grande’s decision to step away from public life has reignited conversations about the lasting impact of growing up in the spotlight.

The singer recently confirmed she’ll be taking a break from public life after wrapping up her Petal tour in September, with her representative citing “endless scrutiny” surrounding her appearance and health as the reason behind the decision.

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Grande later reassured fans during a show in Chicago that the move had been carefully planned, saying: “The announcement that was made yesterday was not a reactive or impulsive thing. It is something that I had decided to plan… quietly, a long time ago.”

Although the announcement has prompted fresh concern, Ariana has actually spent the past few years speaking more openly than ever about the darker side of finding fame as a child.

Appearing on the Podcrushed podcast in 2024 following renewed scrutiny of Nickelodeon in the wake of Quiet on Set, Ariana explained that she’s been reassessing her own experiences growing up on TV.

“Obviously my relationship to [that time] has been, and is currently, changing,” she said. “I’ve been reprocessing a lot of what the experience was like.”

The former Victorious star argued that the entertainment industry needs to do far more to protect young performers, calling for better safeguards on set.

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“I think the environment needs to be made safer,” she said. “I think there should be therapists, I think parents should be allowed to be wherever they want to be. A lot of people don’t have the support that they need to get through performing at that level at such a young age, but also dealing with some of the things that the survivors who have come forward. And there’s not a word for how devastating that is to hear about.”

She also pointed out that harmful workplace behaviour isn’t unique to children’s television.

“If you ask anyone who’s ever worked if they’ve dealt with a boss that had a really bad ego and temper and whatever, or if they’ve been sexually harassed or even assaulted, it’s everywhere.”

Looking back at Victorious, Ariana admitted there are moments from the show that make her uncomfortable now, despite being encouraged to see them differently at the time.

Via Nickelodeon

“Speaking specifically about our show, I think that was something that we were convinced was the cool thing about us, is that we pushed the envelope with our humor and the innuendos,” she reflected. “We were told, and convinced, that it was the cool differentiation. Now looking back on some of the clips, I’m like, ‘Damn, like really?’ I just think about it, like if I had a daughter.”

During a conversation with Interview Magazine, she admitted that becoming one of the world’s biggest pop stars left her carrying “traumas” linked to fame, affecting her relationship with performing and making it harder to simply enjoy the career she’d worked so hard to build.

Her recent announcement may have surprised some people, but it’s clear she’s been hinting for years that life in the spotlight has come at a huge personal cost.

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Featured image credit: YouTube, Nickelodeon