Cynics might suggest that it's a case of the blind leading the blind, but Miley Cyrus has admitted to acting as a mentor to Justin Bieber.

Both pop stars have had a turbulent year despite their considerable success. Bieber, 19, has been chastised for turning up late to gigs, while Cyrus caused outrage by twerking during a sexually explicit performance with Robin Thicke at the MTV VMAs.

But in an interview with Rolling Stone, 20-year-old Cyrus suggested that as she had been in the business a little longer than Bieber, she was in a good position to offer sage advice.

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"I'm not much older than him, so I never want it to feel like I'm mentoring him," she said. "But I do mentor him in a way. Because I've been doing this shit for a long time, and I already transitioned, and I don't think he's quite done it yet."

Despite saying she doesn't hang around with the "Baby" singer too often, Cyrus said she still cared for him and respected him as an artist.

"He's trying really hard," she said. "People don't take him seriously, but he really can play the drums, he really can play guitar, he really can sing.

"I just don't want to see him f*** that up, to where people think he's Vanilla Ice. I tell him that. Like, 'You don't want to become a joke. When you go out, don't start s**t. Don't come in shirtless.'"

Cyrus concluded: "I think boys are, like, seven years behind. So in his head, he's really, like, 12."