Ariana Grande opens up about issue she faced during early years of career in sad admission

Ariana Grande has opened up about the early days of her career and the important change she made which means she’s now in a much better place.

The 31-year-old pop icon began her career as a teenage actress by appearing in the Broadway musical 13 in 2008.

She gained worldwide fame starring as Cat Valentine in the beloved Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious between 2010 and 2013 as well as its spin-off series Sam & Cat from 2013 until 2014.

She also launched a music career, releasing her debut album Yours Truly in 2013, her sophomore record, My Everything, the following year, and Dangerous Woman in 2016.

More recently, she received an Oscar nomination for the role of Glinda in the film adaptation of Wicked and 2024 also marked the release of her seventh album Eternal Sunshine.

When all is said and done, Grande has been very busy.

However being constantly booked and busy during the initial years of Grande’s rise to superstardom came at a cost and she’s now reflecting on it. The singer and actress explained that the early years are quite hazy.

“When I was younger and during my first few years as a pop star, I really struggled with boundaries and not being able to say ‘no’ when I needed to if I was running on empty,” Grande said during the 3 February episode of the Smartless podcast.

She had trouble remembering the exact details of her appearance on a 2016 episode of the talk show Chatty Man alongside the podcast’s co-host Will Arnett.

“Wait, no. What weird talk show did we do?” Grande asked when he mentioned their joint appearance, before eventually remembering. “Oh my God, that's right. It's back.”

She reassured Arnett that her forgetfulness wasn’t personal.

“It's not you, it was the boundaries, remember?” she added. “It was me. I'm missing a couple of years—I'm super serious—from that time. I'm literally missing a few years.”

Grande now has a team who ensures she has a work-life balance, she explained they are 'really protective and amazing'.

She added: “I feel really grateful for the balance that I have found. This whole Wicked journey has been quite different for me. And it's been obviously full steam ahead, but it's been so beautiful and so fun.”

When Grande’s Oscar nomination was announced last month she shared a heartfelt post alongside an adorable picture of herself as a child.

"Picking my head up in between sobs to say thank you so much to @theacademy for this unfathomable recognition," she wrote in the caption. "I cannot stop crying, to no one’s surprise.

"I’m humbled and deeply honoured to be in such brilliant company and sharing this with tiny Ari who sat and studied Judy Garland singing 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' just before the big, beautiful bubble entered.

"I’m so proud of you, tiny."