Jessica Alba might be a glamorous actress living a rich, jet-set lifestyle now. But British newspaper The Daily Mail reveals life was not always so straightforward for the beauty.

“My dad made $14,000 a year working in the air force; he now works as an estate agent. My mum worked at a youth center, a clothing store and at McDonald’s,” Jessica revealed. “For a long time we lived on air force bases in government housing, then when I was nine we moved to Los Angeles into my grandparents house.

“Financially, we were poor, we wore thrift shop clothes and buying school clothes was the big expense for the year; we were always on a budget.

“My dad would drive us down to Mexico and say, ‘I’ll show you what real poverty is,’ and we would see that our life wasn’t that bad.

“I wasn’t a kid trying to sell gum on the side of the road. My parents did their best, but it was definitely tough. I’m really happy that I don’t live like that any more.”