Jesse McCartney reveals how his classmates became aware of his celebrity status

Jesse McCartney just revealed his classmates were not aware of his celebrity status when he was at school in New York.

For those unaware, the 38-year-old American actor and singer-songwriter was just 11-year-old when he played JR Chandler on All My Children and was included in a boy band, Dream Street.

While conversing with PEOPLE magazine, McCartney, who grew up in in Ardsley, New York, and stayed there until his junior year of high school, said he had a “normal childhood.”

The Expecting Amish star told the outlet that he tried to hide his work in the entertainment industry from his class fellows but it eventually came to light through his middle school principal.

He quipped, “It's a daytime soap opera, so we’re all in school. A lot of people didn’t even know that I was on a soap. Then, I was in science class, I’ll never forget it. My [middle school] principal announced on the loudspeaker, ‘Oh, one of our own students has been nominated for a daytime Emmy Award.’”

“That outed me, that I was on a soap opera. Dream Street came along, and because the audience were mainly female tweens, some of the girls at school started to catch on,” McCartney shared.

However, things took a drastic turn for him when he was cast as Bradin Westerly in the 2004 drama series Summerland.

“Things started to get weird at school. Then, people were treating me differently. I ended up leaving and coming to California. I was mainly tutored on set for my junior year and senior year. Then I would come back for graduation, and people were just a little different,” the Beautiful Soul hitmaker recounted.

That period of his life was hard to steer through, as he made many sacrifices and miss out on treasured family moments.

He noted, “The sacrifices, that was definitely hard. I missed out on a lot of family things that I wish I didn’t miss out on.”

“My brother and sister’s moments, they were younger than me. My brother’s 10 years my junior, so I missed a lot of his childhood. But it was overall, I guess, a small price to pay for everything that I have now, and my relationship with my family is really strong,” Jesse McCartney stated.