Selena Gomez 'signed life away' to Disney

Selena Gomez has admitted she was too young to realise she "signed (her) life away" to Disney at the start of her career.

Nearly ten years after the multi-hyphenate left her career in television to pursue music and film, Gomez is returning to the small screen alongside Martin Short in Hulu's Only Murders in the Building.

And speaking to the Television Critics Association, Gomez shared that she felt more in control with her TV comeback than she did in the past.

"I signed my life away to Disney at a very young age and I didn't know what I was doing," the 29-year-old explained. "What I'd say is the level of sophistication of the material is the first reason why I wanted to do this. But when I was a kid, I didn't know what I was doing. I was just running around on set and now I just feel like a sponge and I soak up all the wisdom that I can.

"It's just it's really nice to be back on TV and it's nice to be cast as my actual age, which never happens. So I am very happy to be doing this. I was just a kid. I didn't know what I was thinking."

Gomez began her career on children's show Barney & Friends before rising to prominence as a teenager with her Disney Channel show Wizards of Waverly Place, which ended in 2012 and marked Gomez's last regular TV role. Since then, she's starred in several films, including The Dead Don't Die and A Rainy Day in New York, and got into producing and unscripted programming.

The comments come after other Disney child stars have alleged their upbringing in the spotlight wasn't what it seemed. Earlier this year, Demi Lovato, who uses they/them pronouns, alleged they were sexually assaulted while working for the company as a teenager. In a 2016 interview with Elle magazine, Miley Cyrus spoke out about how she "didn't own her name" during her time working on Disney show Hannah Montana, in which she played Hannah and her alter ego Miley Stewart.