Former child star Ashley Olsen is amazed she has avoided sex and drugs scandals, insisting the pressures of early fame should have caused her to have a public breakdown like Britney Spears.

The actress and her twin sister Mary-Kate have been in the spotlight since they were just six months old, when they were hired to star in sitcom Full House.

The 23 year old is stunned she is now a respected designer running successful fashion ranges because she could have just as easily become tabloid fodder like Spears, who hit the headlines in 2008 after she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.

She tells magazine Marie Claire, "I look at Britney, and I'm surprised I didn't end up like her."

And Olsen admits her stressful childhood should have scared her off being a celebrity, adding, "(Growing up) it was almost like I was in the army. School, work, homework, fly to New York, get in at two in the morning, do a morning show at 5 a.m., then another one at seven, then a radio interview at 10."

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