Stan Walker says adulthood's a harder journey than his childhood filled with abuse

Stan Walker has opened up about how adulthood has been a harder journey than the abuse he faced as a child.

Since bursting into the public spotlight as a round-faced 18-year-old on Australian Idol, Walker's back story of physical and sexual abuse had always been brushed over.

That was until last month when he opened up in a TVNZ Sunday exclusive ahead of releasing his tell-all book Impossible: My Story (HarperCollins NZ).

But this morning Walker delved deeper into the book, which hits shelves on October 14, and how his story has impacted him as an adult.

"For me, this last 12 years, since I've become an artist, since Idol, that's been a harder journey than my childhood," he told TVNZ1's Breakfast this morning.

"I'm an adult now and I understand and can comprehend stuff as an adult and I have to adult, where as a kid I had resilience, I felt like I was more strong as a kid because you kind of get over stuff and you kind of don't know defeat like we do as an adult.

"For me as an adult, going though things as an adult has been as a kid. I thought I was prepared coming into this industry (music) because childhood but it's a whole different ballgame, like my whole life is now broadcast and everything that I go through people are watching so I have to hide that.

"I had to hide in a different way as a kid."

Walker said his book was a release for his own self, though.

"I got to learn a lot about myself, especially as a kid, but I felt like it's time, I mean, I've lived a whole life and I've seen a whole life in 30 years of so many things that have been swept under the cover.

"I'm just so grateful and blessed that I'm free from all of that, now it's time for everybody else to be free and it's like, man, rip that carpet up and see what's there and let's actually deal with it."