London, Sep 3 (IANS): American model Amber Rose doesn't understand why she became famous and admits she had a hard time at first.

The 32-year-old model, who previously dated Kanye West and has a three-year-old son, Sebastian, with ex-husband Wiz Khalifa, insists she never wanted to be "a celebrity" and had a "very hard time" with people criticising her even though they didn't really know her, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Asked who she admires, she singled out Madonna and her mother and added: "And myself. Because I came such a long way.

"I didn't really want to be a celebrity. It just kind of happened to me. Without even asking, the paparazzi is following me around and I'm like, 'I'm just a regular girl from Philly. I don't know why you guys are following me. This is really weird.'

"And then the entire world is ridiculing me for things I've never even done. It really sucked and it was a very hard time in my life."

But these days, Rose, who will compete on the upcoming season of "Dancing With the Stars" doesn't care about people's opinions as she has no time for negativity, and hopes her outlook inspires others.