Maddie Ziegler opens up on life after Dance Moms

Maddie Ziegler wants the world to know she's "not always going to be that little girl" from Dance Moms.

The former Dance Moms child star began her television career at the age of nine, so she understands some fans haven't been able to grasp that she's an adult now.

"These little girls came up to me and said that they're watching the show right now," Maddie, 21, told Teen Vogue in an interview published this week. "They were looking at me, confused, saying, 'Wait, I thought you were our age.' They didn't comprehend that I was an adult now."

Maddie said she finds it "scary" when people confuse her for her childhood self.

"I'm not always going to be that little girl," she explained. "I'm still that same goofy, loving, hard-working girl, but I'm also changing and growing. It's scary when people are like, 'But you're not who you were when you were younger.' And I have to explain, 'Yeah, because that's just not realistic.'"

As for Dance Moms, the reality series that brought her into the public eye, Maddie said enough time and distance meant she was able to appreciate it for what it had given her.

"Obviously, I have my feelings about that, but if I didn't do it, I would not be where I am right now at all," she said. "I wouldn't have found my love for acting through music videos."