Lindsay Lohan reveals true reason she disappeared from Hollywood for more than a decade

There was a time when Lindsay Lohan was absolutely everywhere we looked, but that all came to an abrupt stop when she suddenly gave up the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles in favour of a quiet life.

The legendary actor hightailed it out of Hollywood in 2012 after spending more than a decade in the spotlight and keeping a string of tabloid magazines in business with her party-girl behaviour.

She first entered the entertainment industry when she was just three years old, so it's no wonder she'd had enough when she hit her mid-20s and scarpered off to London.

The Parent Trap star, 37, was in multiple movies, releasing music, and taking on coveted presenting gigs all while battling personal and legal issues which the public were very aware of - so who can blame her for trying to find solace in the UK capital?

She previously described the move as the 'best thing' she has ever done for herself, explaining that she had grown tired of 'keeping up' with life back home across the pond and preferred to try and blend into the background in London.

Since then, Lohan now calls Dubai her full-time home and leads a lowkey but luxurious lifestyle with her husband Bader Shammas and their baby boy Luai, who was born in July last year.

Kayla Oaddams/FilmMagic

And she now feels ready to reveal the real reason behind why she disappeared from Hollywood for more than a decade.

The Mean Girls star explained that although she was bending over backwards to fulfil her work commitments, it seemed that the stories the press were spinning about her were of more interest to the majority of people.

She told Bustle: "I feel like some of [my work] got overshadowed by paparazzi and all that kind of stuff when I was younger, and that's kind of annoying. I wish that part didn't happen.

"I feel like that kind of took on a life of its own. So that's why I wanted to disappear. I was like, ‘Unless there's no story here, they're not going to focus on just my work'."

Lohan said that the landscape of Hollywood is a lot different these days, especially as social media allows celebrities to have 'control of their own story' and reclaim the narrative that may be being perpetuated by the media.

Instagram/@lindsaylohan

She still doesn't 'pay attention' to tabloids and any salacious stories that emerge in the press, saying: "I know how it works, so there's no point.

"And if you immerse yourself in that stuff, you're just going to get lost, and it can just do so much to you."

The Freaky Friday alum praised fellow Y2K queens Britney Spears and Paris Hilton for 'taking their power back' by releasing memoirs and documentaries, but said her 'story isn't finished yet', so there won't be one from her anytime soon.

But Lohan declared she isn't scared of stepping foot in Hollywood, despite the negative experiences she had which dictated her early life.

She said she and her husband intended to 'spend more time' in the US in the future - although they won't live there, as they aren't in a rush to ditch their Dubai lifestyle...especially as paparazzi is illegal there.