Ellie Goulding was an "idiot" in one of her past relationships.
The 26-year-old singer strives to be true to herself since being stuck with a negative boyfriend.
After learning valuable lessons from the experience, Ellie urges people not to let others have such an effect on them.
"You should never change for anyone. And I say that because I've done it before; I've changed for a man. I was with a guy and there were things that he didn't like about what I wore or the way my hair was," she recalled to the January edition of UK magazine Cosmopolitan.
"I was so, so in love with him that I'd have done anything. I look back now and think, 'What an idiot!' You only realise when you're out of it how someone can have a hold over you. He treated me horrendously and I just didn't help myself; there were friends around me who'd say, 'You do see what he's doing to you?' But you don't at the time."
It isn't just her love life Ellie looks to for music inspiration. She also channels her feelings towards family and other issues while writing songs.
"My song I Know You Care is about my dad and kind of my closure. I had a lot of anger and bitterness because he wasn't around. So much has happened to me in the past four years; he hasn't been part of that, and he wasn't before," she admitted. "Part of me wants him to be a nice dude and be apologetic. But I'm really worried he's not going to be like that, so I'd rather have the question mark than the truth."
