Justin Bieber has admitted that he nearly quit his music career over false claims he had fathered a child.

The ‘Boyfriend’ singer, who was the subject of a paternity case brought against him by Mariah Yeater following an alleged backstage encounter in 2011, told The Sun’s Fabulous magazine that he found it difficult to cope with the incident at the time:

"At the beginning of it all I was in Florida, away from my friends and family and I was pretty sad. I got to the point where I thought, 'I don't want to do this. I just want to be normal.' It was difficult because I'd never gone through anything like that.

"Usher was like, 'Prepare to have this for the rest of your career because it's not going to stop'. He's gone through some stuff and most artists go through their fair share of bull. That was just my first time."

The 18-year-old, currently dating Selena Gomez, went on to reveal that he doesn’t hold any grudge towards Yeater, adding:

''I feel sorry for her more than anything. Everything that hurts you makes you stronger in the end. You've got to learn from the bad things that happen.''

Watch Justin's recently released Making Of Believe webisode for 'As Long As You Love Me' below: