Aspiring singer and reality star Courtney Stodden opened up about her break up with the 53-year-old "Green Mile" star Doug Hutchinson, with whom she got married when she was just 16 years old in 2011.

According to Courtney, after almost three years of marriage, the difference between their ages was what struck the relationship the most.

"I want to be free and embrace my independence and not neglect my youth," she told E! News during an interview. "I'm feeling good. Obviously, any breakup is really stressful."

"My age , obviously," answered Stodden when asked what went wrong with them.

"As you know, Courtney was married at a young age. Now, at nineteen, she's interested in exploring lige as an unmarried single young adult - with the freedom to explore her independence," a joint statement released by the couple said.

Stodden told E! News, the breakup wasn't to be considered a publicity stunt and added she started to feel strange and to change her mind while away competing on the U.K. "Celebrity Big Brother", which was the first time she had been away from Doug for more than 24 hours.

"I was missing hime, but not intimately," she admitted. "I couldn't neglect my desires, and wanting to embrace my independence and my freedom. I got that it was unconventional, but I didn't get how weird and strange that came across... When I was 16, I got my marriage license instead of my driver's license. Come on."

The couple met in 2010, when she signed up for a Hutchinson's acting class. They began to know each other by emails and phone calls while he thought she was in her 20s. Stodden was reportedly a virgin when they got married in Las Vegas in 2011.