Madonna attributes her phenomenal success to the years she suffered at the hands of school bullies.

The Material Girl admits she was considered a “weirdo” during her high school days in the 1970s, but decided to use her classmates’ cruelty as a springboard to success.

She tells Vanity Fair magazine, “I wasn’t a hippie or a stoner, so I ended up being the weirdo. I was interested in classical ballet and music, so the kids were quite mean if you were different. I was one of those people that people were mean to. When that happened, instead of being a doormat, I decided to emphasize my differences. I didn’t shave my legs. I had hair growing under my arms. I refused to wear makeup, or fit the ideal of what a conventionally pretty girl would look like. So, of course, I was tortured even more.”

WENN