Sumner Stroh reflects on her and Adam Levine‘s cheating scandal seven months later in an exclusive interview with In Touch, highlighting her new song, “Love to Hate.”

“My life changed overnight and that was scary,” Sumner, 23, exclusively tells In Touch about revealing their affair in a TikTok video in September 2022. “It was just hard to even try and plan something to come back from this.”

After her friend tried to sell screenshots that she exchanged with Adam, 44, during their affair that lasted one year, Sumner took to TikTok to share her side of the story. At the time, she claimed that she felt “exploited” and “manipulated” by the Maroon 5 lead singer, who is currently married to Behati Prinsloo.

While speaking to In Touch, Sumner reveals why now feels like the right time to release the single, as the lyrics point to how she was feeling during the incident and its aftermath.

She adds that she hopes to move on from the situation. “I was thrown into this, and I think that I want to move on from that,” the singer shares. “I just wanted to talk about the criticism that I faced. I think that rather than harp on the past, I wanna move forward and create change for other people to make a better future for women in general.”

Sumner also discusses what she hopes her critics take away from her debut single. “This problem of cancel culture is so rampant and people give into it in order to salvage their reputation,” she says. “And instead of perpetuating that, I wanted to inspire women in general and just state that the patriarchy has permeated and infiltrated even the strongest of us.”

As a musician, she plans to “stay true to myself at the end of the day” and shares that she was “inspired” by the hate she received to write “Love to Hate.”

“Thank you to the trolls who attempted to bring me down, bring down a stranger, because I feel like I’m now living my destiny and learned so much about myself and have grown so much,” she says. “I realized just how strong I am, which was surprising because I did reach an all-time low and that’s why I wrote music. This was my creative expression in order to process.”

In addition to discussing her new single, Sumner teases her plans to release new music and says it’s “only a matter of time” until she drops more songs.

Sumner Stroh Reflects on Adam Levine Cheating Scandal 7 Months Later: 'I Wanna Move Forward'
Courtesy of Sumner Stroh/Instagram

After Sumner and several other women came forward with claims that they had inappropriate relationships with Adam during his marriage, he addressed the allegations in an Instagram Stories post.

“A lot is being said about me right now and I want to clear the air. I used poor judgment in speaking with anyone other than my wife in ANY kind of flirtatious manner,” the “Moves Like Jagger” singer wrote on September 20, 2022. “I did not have an affair, nevertheless, I crossed the line during a regrettable period in my life. In certain instances, it became inappropriate; I have addressed that and taken proactive steps to remedy this with my family.”

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