Heartbreaking reason why Katy Perry ditched her 'scary' real name

Katy Perry fans were left in shock at this year's VMAs when it was revealed that Katy Perry wasn't her real name, but there's actually a very sad reason why she ditched her birth name.

It's hardly a surprise anymore when big-name stars reveal we've actually been calling them by their 'stage name' all these years.

Some are more obvious - I mean, who in their right mind would name their baby Lady Gaga? Or Doja Cat?

While in the cases of other celebs, you mightn't even realise they go by a pseudonym. Like Katy Perry, for example.

That's right, throughout the 17 years that the 'Firework' singer has been in the spotlight, she's been tricking us about her real moniker.

The 39-year-old US hitmaker was actually born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, but only recently did she reveal the real reason she opted to develop a stage name all those years ago.

And sadly, it's a pretty heartbreaking story.

Speaking to The Guardian in 2017, the mother-of-one - who shares her four-year-old daughter Daisy with actor hubby Orlando Bloom - began by discussing the character she'd created when 'Katy Perry' first stepped onto the music scene, confessing the singer couldn't be further from her real personality.

Claiming she wanted to 'liberate' herself, she then opened up about her difficult childhood - having been raised by devout Christian and fundamentalist parents, both of whom were pentecostal pastors - and revealed that her upbringing spurred her to change her name entirely.

Katy first shot to fame in 2008 (SAM BOLTON/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

"A lot of people are living in fear from something that happened in their childhood, or some form of PTSD they picked up along the way," she explained.

"And I created this wonderful character called Katy Perry that I very much am, and can step into all the time, but I created that character out of protection."

She continued: "I was scared that if you saw me, Katheryn Hudson, the girl wearing the Bioré strip on my nose, you’d be like, ‘That’s not glamorous’.

"It was me going, ‘OK, I’ve been upset my whole childhood so I’m going to show the world I am something, that I am going to do something and that I am enough’.

"I didn’t want to be Katheryn Hudson. I hated that, it was too scary for me, so I decided to be someone else."

In the years since her first concerning remark, the 'Hot n Cold' singer has opened up about her parent, claiming they spoke 'in tongues' during a huge proportion of her childhood.

The singer was raised by fundamentalist Christians (Gotham/WireImage)

"A lot of religions use meditation or chanting," she told Rolling Stone. "It's a secret, direct prayer language to God. My dad speaks in tongues and my mom interprets it. That's their gift."

Katy also alleged that secular music was banned in her family home, and her parents picketed at the concerts of Madonna and Marilyn Manson.

Speaking to Vogue, she added that her family were explicitly opposed to the LGBTQ+ community, and that celebration of major holidays wasn't permitted.

"My house was church on Sunday morning, church on Sunday night, church on Wednesday evening," she recalled to the fashion mag.

"You don't celebrate Halloween; Jesus gives you your Christmas presents; we watch Bill O'Reilly on TV. That was my whole childhood and youth and early teens."