Miley Cyrus has defended her controversial performance at the MTV VMAs, saying that she wasn't trying to be "sexy".

The singer endured a slew of criticism after the show in August for dancing seductively with collaborator Robin Thicke.

However, Cyrus has told Rolling Stone that people are wrong when they presume she was attempting to be "sexy". The 'Wrecking Ball' star said:

"I wasn't trying to be sexy. If I was trying to be sexy, I could have been sexy. I can dance a lot better than I was dancing."

The singer meanwhile alluded to a sense of "double standards" over the performance, believing that Thicke got off lightly compared to her. Cyrus said:

"No one is talking about the man behind the ass. It was a lot of 'Miley twerks on Robin Thicke', but never, 'Robin Thicke grinds up on Miley'. They're only talking about the one that bent over. So obviously there's a double standard."