Hilary Duff admits her split from husband Mike Comrie has been very difficult

The 26-year-old star, who has son Luca, two, with Mike, told a Billboard.com Pod Shop podcast on Thursday (31.07.14): "I'm separated from my husband right now, which has been a very difficult thing to go through, but we have a lot of love for each other and we have this beautiful baby.

"There's a song about Luca and a song about my separation and my love for this person, that maybe we're not meant to be together, or maybe we are. It's very, very personal."

The blonde beauty's album became "a lot heavier and darker" as a result of her personal problems.

She explained: "I think I just needed to get that out. And once I did get that out a lot of fun came."

Hilary is excited to be back in the spotlight following a five-year hiatus from the music industry, but learned a lot about herself during that time.

She said: "The thing for me was that I really toured for five years straight...and I don't think anyone gave me the credit as an artist. I was having the best time, but after about five years, I was like, I have no life, I have, like, two friends, I'm never home, I'm never with my family."

She added: "I kind of needed to shut it all down -- it was time for me to be a person and learn who I wanted to be."