America's Got Talent Alum Grace VanderWaal Is All Grown Up in New TikTok Interview _ E! News

Transcript

00:00Next question, advice to a younger self?

00:04Don't trust everyone.

00:07America's Got Talent alum Grace VanderWaal is all grown up. Nearly eight years after winning

00:14America's Got Talent, the singer is making a surprise appearance on one of TikToker David

00:19Carmi's videos, in which he asks New Yorkers their secret to being confident while out on the streets.

00:27Excuse me, excuse me. I think you look really confident. What makes you confident?

00:33I see you all the time. What's your name? I'm like nervous. My name's Grace VanderWaal. Oh,

00:37no way. You're an American at heart. Yes. What a coincidence. Oh my god, that's so crazy.

00:44You know what? I've literally thought of this when I see your videos,

00:47and I feel like it's so common in New York. Having somewhere to go

00:51makes you look confident. You're just in a rush. Where do you like to go?

00:54I like to go shopping and go to dinner. We see that.

00:58The 20-year-old, who won America's Got Talent in 2016 at the age of 12,

01:04goes on to say that growing up in the spotlight helped her get out of her comfort zone.

01:09What has been the biggest struggle of yours, starting out growing up? And I know you performed

01:14on big stages before. So how do you get out of that comfort zone? I honestly felt like it

01:19helped me as a person because it threw me into scrutiny and just kind of forced me sink or swim.

01:26Wow. What's your secret to becoming more confident?

01:30Just accept who you are and don't try to be anyone. Ew, that's so corny, but it's true.

01:35It's true. It resonates with you. Yeah, your strengths.

01:38In the video, which has over 28 million views on TikTok,

01:42Grace also shares this advice to her younger self.

01:46Next question, advice to a younger self?

01:51Don't trust everyone. Yeah.

01:55Since her television debut, during which America's Got Talent judge Simon Cowell called

02:00her the next Taylor Swift, Grace has opened up about that period in her life. At the time,

02:07she tells E! News in 2022, quote,

02:10Looking back, I have definitely faced the mental repercussions of that growing up. I keep learning

02:17about how to take care of myself, and my biggest thing recently is just acknowledging your triggers.

02:24Grace continues,

02:25I've been doing this for so long that you get desensitized to hate online.

02:30I went through a ton of hate online when I was really young.

02:34I'm happy it happened, though, because it prepared me for this life.