Shay Mitchell ate lunch in a bathroom during high school

The 25 year old plays popular teenager Emily Fields on the hit TV drama, but reveals her real-life experience at school was totally different from what is portrayed on TV.

Opening up about her struggles to fit in during her youth, she urges fans to stand up for themselves and embrace their individuality – even if they’re feeling low.

She tells Seventeen magazine, “I grew up in a predominantly Caucasian neighbourhood, but my mum is Filipino-Spanish and my dad is Irish. All my friends had fair complexions with blonde hair and blue eyes.

“In high school I was an outcast… I wasn’t cool to hang out with. I ate my lunch in a bathroom stall because that was the one place I could go where I wouldn’t been seen.”