Natalie Imbruglia reveals the dark side of the entertainment industry as she opens up about being 'exploited' as a teenager: 'I didn't know I could say no'

Natalie Imbruglia has lifted the lid on the darker side of her rise to fame, revealing she was 'exploited' as a teenager - and didn't feel empowered enough to say no.

The Australian singer and actress, now 51, shot to international fame with her 1997 smash hit Torn after first becoming a household name as a teenage star on Neighbours.

But behind the glamour of her meteoric rise was a young woman who admits she was often too inexperienced to stand up for herself.

In a candid interview with Stellar magazine, Imbruglia recalled being asked to audition in a bikini — something she says left a lasting impression.

'I was so dysmorphic and self-conscious. I'd been exploited,' she said.

'I had to audition in my bikini and walk up and down the room.'

She also revealed she once agreed to what she believed would be a fashion magazine shoot, only to discover it was actually something quite different.

'There had been a magazine spread that I thought was [going to be] fashion... turned out to be lingerie,' she said.

'I didn't know I could say no. So I just did the pictures!'

The photographs were subsequently sold all over, leaving the young star distressed.

'They got sold around the world... it was traumatising. That was never my intention, but I didn't have my voice,' she said.

Imbruglia was just 16 when she left school to join the cast of Neighbours as Beth Brennan, embarking on a career that would eventually take her from Australian television to international superstardom.

She moved to the UK in 1994 to pursue acting opportunities, admitting she was suddenly thrown into an adult world she wasn't prepared for.

'It hit me very soon after, "you're in an adult's world." I was out of my depth,' she recalled.

'It took a good 10 years after I'd left [Neighbours] for me to go, "Oh, my goodness. How did I do that?"'

The experience seems to have shaped the way she approached her career — and particularly her image — when Torn transformed her into a global star.

By the time she filmed the iconic music video, Imbruglia was determined to have greater control over how she looked.

'By the "Torn" video, I didn't want anybody to see my silhouette, or to wear clothes I was uncomfortable in,' she said.

She asked to wear her own clothes for the video and ended up creating what became one of the most recognisable looks of the '90s almost by accident.

Her outfit consisted of army fatigues, a cheap transfer T-shirt from London's Portobello Road Market, trainers designed to make her look taller and a jacket from Maharishi.

'I just wore what I would every day,' she said.

Despite the video becoming iconic, Imbruglia admitted she was riddled with nerves while filming it.

However, the result was a career-defining video and a song that would become one of the biggest hits of the era.

Nearly three decades later, the song remains inseparable from Imbruglia — something she has learned to embrace rather than resent.

Her relationship with fame, however, has clearly changed dramatically over the years.

Earlier this year, she found herself having to reacquaint herself with the machinery of celebrity when she returned to posing for photographs and doing interviews.

'It was jarring,' she admitted.

'I was sat in a chair, they're doing my hair and make-up, there's a camera in my face and they're asking questions.'

Her initial reaction was to wonder why she was being asked so many questions, until she suddenly remembered: 'It's my job.'