Fantasia Barrino has had to learn some "harsh lessons" since she won 'American Idol'.
Fantasia Barrino has had to learn some tough lessons since shooting to fame as a teenager
The 39-year-old star won the third season of the singing competition in 2005 when she was just a teenager and has gone on to have an illustrious career in music with with seven studio albums under her belt but admitted that even though it hasn't all been plain sailing since, everything has made her into her person she is today.
She told Britain's HELLO Magazine: "I was just 19 when I won American Idol. I didn't know anything and I trusted everyone.
"I've learnt a lot of harsh lessons since about life and love. But I believe everything I went through was necessary to make me the woman I am today!"
Meanwhile, Fantasia has made her film debut playing the role of Celie in 'The Color Purple' - which is an adaptation of the Broadway musical initially based on the 1982 novel of the same name and te 1985 film - after initially playing the part on stage and admitted that even though she has "a lot in common" with her character, never thought she would actually ever get to play her.
She said: "I felt like I had a lot in common with Celie, but I never imagined for a second that I would be playing her on Broadway and in a movie. I remember also seeing the Broadway show for the first time and being blown away at how it moved the room. Everyone was crying. It was so powerful and so healing!"
Fantasia also admitted that whilst she was "used" to the singing aspect of the role, it was the tap dancing that came as a challenge to her.
She said: "That took a lot of hard hours of practice, practice, practice. The singing I was used to, but doing it at 5am or 6am was tough, too!"