J. Lo says she was briefly homeless when she was 18

NEW YORK, July 10 (UPI) -- Jennifer Lopez revealed to W magazine she was briefly homeless when she left her family's house in New York to start her career at the age of 18.

"My mom and I butted heads. I didn't want to go to college -- I wanted to try dance full-time. I was homeless," Lopez, now 43, told the magazine, adding she even slept on a cot at her dance studio for awhile. "But I told her, 'This is what I have to do.'"

Lopez got her start a year later as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy series "In Living Color." The thrice-divorced mother of 5-year-old twins Max and Emme is now one of the most successful singers, actresses and TV personalities in the world.