Katy Perry: I was clinically depressed after performance of last album

Katy Perry has opened up on how her mental health was affected upon the release of her last album Witness, which made its debut in 2017.

The record struggled commercially compared with the huge success of her previous three albums and left the singer in a troubled place.

“Coming out of Witness, which was my last album, I became very upset and clinically depressed,” she told Australia's Channel Seven’s The Morning Show. "I became very insecure and had to go on a journey, both emotionally, spiritually, and psychologically to understand why I relied so much on validation.”

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The 35-year-old went on: “I had to realise that everything related to my career isn’t all of what life is, it’s just a part of who I am.

“I really went through that journey and a lot of beautiful songs came from it.”

While her previous three records One of the Boys, Teenage Dream and Prism spawned multiple hits, Witness failed to make the same impact in the charts.

Perry's discussion of her career comes as the star is due to release her as-of-yet-unnamed sixth album in August.

She released a single from the project back in March, Never Worn White, revealing her pregnancy in the accompanying video. The California Girls hitmaker is expecting her first child, a daughter, with fiancé Orlando Bloom.

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Perry has recently shared that she's 'learning to be a mum fast' in lockdown due to residing with children.

Bloom, 43, already has son Flynn, 9, from his first marriage to model Miranda Kerr.