In her buzzed-about new interview in the June issue of Vanity Fair, Jessica Simpson reveals that she quit pop music in 2007 and pursued a career as a country star because she constantly felt like a “runner-up” in comparision to chart rivals Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.

The singer/actress first came up against the pop princesses when she auditioned for The Mickey Mouse Club at age 12. Both Britney and Christina won spots on the show — Jessica was rejected. And Simpson admits she feels like she has always been playing catch-up with Spears and Aguilera.

“When I got the letter (from the Mickey Mouse Club) that said I didn’t make it, I just remember that I was giving up and I thought that I was going to die,” Jessica says, recalling the snub. “It’s funny to look at my journals and see all the fears I had to face. (Those girls) all remembered me. I didn’t feel competitive. I was more intimidated.”

Jessica launched her pop career in 1999, just around the same time Britney and Xtina got their first taste of platinum-selling success. “My album was different (from theirs). I released a ballad first. I wasn’t dancing and doing that whole thing. I wanted to set myself apart. But I was always third runner-up.”