Lauren Jauregui believes her time in Fifth Harmony was "abusive".
The group - which also comprised Camila Cabello, Ally Brooke, Dinah Jane and Normani — were just teenagers when they were put together on 'The X Factor' in 2012 and the 25-year-old singer believes people took advantage of their innocence and failed to give them guidance on navigating life in the spotlight.
She said: "We were young adolescents thrown into the spotlight.
"Because remember, 'X Factor' is not even anything but a reality show that you're on TV in front of millions off the bat, and I think we all just had our own way of processing that.
"And that affected the group in general. And that affected us personally. And I think that now we're at a point in our lives where we're healing from it, and we're each doing what we were truly meant to do for ourselves.
"[There was] no one to teach us that [communication], no one. No mental health resources anywhere along the way. [We were] expected to be an adult at adolescence, with zero knowledge of this industry.
"So many adults taking advantage of that naïveté. It's abusive."
But Lauren is thankful the 'Work From Home' group had a "sisterhood" between them that helped them to cope, although they are all still taking "time to heal".
Speaking on 'The Zach Sang Show', she said: "I think that we went through too much life s*** together for to just be a co-worker-ship. I think that there's a sisterhood. There's just this constant love no matter what. But I think we all took our time to heal.
"And I think that's the path that we're on right now. Because a lot of what happened to us wasn't even us. It was all of the pieces around us."
However, Lauren doesn't regret her time in the band.
She said: "If it hadn't happened, exactly how it did, I would not be where I am. So I don't regret a second of anything that happened."
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