Miley Wanted to Reach "Older Audience" With Vanity Fair Shoot

(FilmMagic)

Those suggestive Vanity Fair photos were a "mistake," Miley Cyrus says, revealing that she agreed to the risqué shots in an attempt to reach out to an "older audience."

"I think I was just in a stage where I was just trying to get things done, and maybe look for an older audience," the singer tells Good Morning America. "I was working with a big magazine just trying to go with what they were saying."

The 15-year-old has said the nearly nude shoot "still hurts," and reiterated that sentiment on the morning talk show, saying she had a "hard time" weathering the slew of criticism that followed.

But now, she "knows what it's like to have people talk about you like you're kind of iron."

"People need to remember that I am young and that I do have feelings, and I'll do the same thing for them," Miley, whose album Breakout is out today, says. "Anyone who was 15 years old can't say they haven't made a mistake. So I think it's just normal."