Tate McRae has defended appearing in a Team USA Winter Olympics advert

Alongside a childhood photo of herself holding up a Canadian flag, Tate wrote on Instagram: "... Y'all know I'm Canada down (sic)"

Tate's advert for NBC Sports aired earlier this month. In the commercial, she's seen promoting Team USA while talking to a snowy owl.

Tate says: "I'm trying to get to Milan for an amazing Opening Ceremony and meet Team USA. It's the weekend with America's best skating for gold and Lindsey Vonn's epic comeback."

The advert was aired shortly after Tate admitted that she's previously felt overwhelmed by the scrutiny she's faced.

The pop star split from The Kid Laroi in July after about a year of dating, and Tate admitted that she struggled to cope with the attention that subsequently came her way.

She told Rolling Stone magazine: "It was really scary and overwhelming, I would never talk that way, even about my friends' lives. I didn't realise how much it would affect me, the public knowing my private life - because no one knows the full story of anything, ever.

"I also hate people painting a situation that's worse than it is. But what I've had to realise is that he's going to write songs and I'm going to write songs, and that's our way of expressing ourselves. That's our art, that's our job. And once it's out there, it's not mine anymore."

Tate admitted that fame and attention had taken a toll on her over the last 12 months.

The singer - who has enjoyed a meteoric rise over recent years - said: "I don't even recognise that person. I feel I've aged 10 years in the past year."