United Kingdom, Jan. 26 -- Ariana Grande has called for "more protection" of child stars.

The 31-year-old pop singer shot to fame as a teenager when she took on the role of Cat Valentine in the Nickelodeon sitcom 'Victorious' in the late 2000s and while she "loved" that time so much, still needed "support" to get through it all.

She told the BBC World Service's 'Arts Hour': "Being in this industry at all, as a child, as an adult, as anything is a balance of kind of survive and thrive. There are so many beautiful things that come with being an actor and being a performer, and I remember falling in love with my character and that being such a gift to my life.

"Playing Cat Valentine was my very first experience getting absolutely lost in ...