Pop star Justin Bieber has told a Sydney radio host the real meaning behind his catchy new track, ‘Sorry’.

In his first interview since the song’s release last week, Bieber spoke to “Smallzy” at the MTV European Music Awards in Milan on Monday night.

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After performing his new hit onstage, Bieber said the song was not a secret message to ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez, as many have speculated, but a general apology for his behaviour over the last few years.

Bieber after leaving a Florida jail in 2014. Photo: Getty

“It’s kind of the stamp in the end of all of the apologies that I’m giving, like to the people [and] to the media… Putting a song out saying ‘Sorry’ is the icing on the cake and I’m just ready to move on,” he told the host.

The lyrics include the lines, “I know you know that I made those mistakes maybe once or twice / By once or twice I mean maybe a couple of hundred times / So let me, oh let me redeem, oh redeem myself tonight / Is it too late now to say sorry?”

Bieber has certainly had a scandalous few years in the eyes of the media.

In 2013, Bieber was criticised for visiting Holocaust figure Anne Frank’s house in Amsterdam and writing in the visitor book, “Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a Belieber.”

Further incidents in the next two years included uploading a video in which Bieber yelled “F*** Bill Clinton!”, accusations of spitting on fans, possessing marijuana, allegedly visiting a Brazil brothel, involvement in a vandalism case, being arrested for drag racing and driving under the influence and finally, being charged with assault in an incident with a Toronto limousine driver at the end of 2014.

However, Bieber has been scandal-free for the past nine months, and he offered an uplifting message to his fans.

“I just want to let people know that for a while I feel like I lost my purpose and I’m gaining it back… and I feel like it’s so important that everyone finds their purpose… so basically my message is that no matter how far you feel away from who you were, or who you think you were, or whether you’re lost, there’s always room to grow and always room to find your purpose.”