Selena Gomez reveals why she decided to quit Instagram after becoming most followed user

"I always end up feeling like s***"

Selena Gomez (Mike Coppola/Getty Images for People.com)

Selena Gomez has spoken about the effect becoming the most followed person on Instagram had on her mental health and wellbeing, so much so that she ended up taking a break from the app.

For many of us, social platforms come with a catalogue of risks and pressures from bullying to body image but can the same be said for those in the spotlight?

As someone that prides herself on being entirely frank with her fans, Gomez revealed that, despite gaining an astounding 110 million followers on her Instagram alone she still feels the pressure as she graced the cover of Vogue for the first time.

“People so badly wanted me to be authentic,“ she told the magazine. “And when that happened, finally, it was a huge release. I’m not different from what I put out there. I’ve been very vulnerable with my fans, and sometimes I say things I shouldn’t. But I have to be honest with them. I feel that’s a huge part of why I’m where I am.”

Less than a month after she became the most followed person on Instagram, the singer made a conscious decision to quite the app in a bid to improve her mental health.

It is something she has openly struggled with having entered treatment twice amid her stressful ‘Revival’ tour and a distressing battle with Lupus.

“As soon as I became the most followed person on Instagram, I sort of freaked out,” she said, explaining that she doesn’t have the app on her phone anymore.

“It had become so consuming to me. It’s what I woke up to and went to sleep to,” she continued.

“I was an addict, and it felt like I was seeing things I didn’t want to see, like it was putting things in my head that I didn’t want to care about. I always end up feeling like sh*t when I look at Instagram.

“Which is why I’m kind of under the radar, ghosting it a bit."

After 90 days of treatment, Gomez has since bounced back gracing the April cover of Vogue and releasing a Netflix miniseries, 13 Reasons Why, which she executive-produced on the way.

But while her successes continues, she admits to looking forward to the pressures of fame subsiding.

“Look, I love what I do, and I’m aware of how lucky I am, but — how can I say this without sounding weird?” she said.

“I just really can’t wait for people to forget about me.”