AceShowbiz - Mariah Carey insists her life is "more layered" than people imagine. The 52-year-old singer - who is working on a TV series based on her memoir - thinks her route to superstardom has been more complicated than people realise.

"My life in general is actually much more layered than what people know or what is even in the book," shared Mariah - who released her memoir, "The Meaning of Mariah Carey", in 2020. "People who have been friends with me for years were like, 'How come you never told me all of this happened to you?' At this point in my life, it's about doing things that I really want to do."

Mariah has also written a children's book called "The Christmas Princess". The story centers on a young girl named Little Mariah and the chart-topping star has likened the character to "Pippi Longstocking or Harriet the Spy".

She told W magazine, "Little Mariah is a mixed-race girl with no money and no one to come do her hair. She's like Pippi Longstocking or Harriet the Spy, but she's biracial. A lot of people who are my actual fans feel that they are 'other', whether they're white, black, brown, whatever it is - you know, any race, creed, or colour. If you feel 'other', it's just a different thing."

Meanwhile, Mariah previously admitted that she's felt under pressure to identify as either being black or white. The "Always Be My Baby" hitmaker explained that people have wanted her to make a choice about her own identity. She said, "I always thought it should be OK to say I'm mixed, like it should be OK to say that, but people want you to choose."