Mariah Carey's insecurities stem from growing up in a bi-racial family - because her looks set her apart from her peers.

The 35-year-old singer felt unattractive and alienated during her childhood, factors which turned her into an insecure mess by the time she reached adulthood.

And she blames her biological roots - her mother is white and her father is black - for her disastrous marriage to Sony record boss Tommy Mottola, whom she married in 1993 and divorced five years later (98).

Carey says, "I didn't feel pretty, like I belonged anywhere. I felt like an outcast, mainly because of coming from a bi-racial family.

"Because of my childhood and because soon after adolescence I got into this restrictive relationship, I never felt secure because my insecurities were prayed upon."

10/04/2005 21:23