As it turns out, Demi Lovato has quite a bit in common with her Smurfs: The Lost Village character, Smurfette—and not necessarily in any way you'd expect.

In a recent interview with Mamamia, the singer and actress revealed that at the start of her career, she only had male friends, in part because she made a conscious effort to surround herself with men instead of women.

"In my work environment, I used to only surround myself with men," she said. "I only had guys in my band, and I toured with guys and my tour manager was a guy and this and that."

After a while, however, Demi began to reevaluate why she was actively keeping women out of her life, and became resolved to change her way of thinking.

"I made a specific change. There was a time I used to say that I just didn't get along with girls," she said. "I reevaluated why I didn't get along with girls, and I think it's because I didn't really have any in my life that I trusted."

"Now I've made it a point to surround myself with strong women and it's really made a difference in my life," she continued.

The star added that she couldn't be happier to have befriended so many empowering women over the years, and that she views them as "role models and positive influences." But nonetheless, she does still feel a very special connection to Smurfette, because she very much understands what it means to be the only girl in a universe of boys.

"I really relate to Smurfette, because I was the only female for a little bit [in my world]," she said. "I had to make changes in my life to surround myself with influences and people that I could relate to. I'm really grateful that I did."

From: Cosmopolitan US