Selena Gomez talks body-shaming, tabloid life in new interview

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y., Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Selena Gomez wants to set records straight and focus on her music career, particularly her upcoming album Revival and tours to follow.

In an interview with Refinery 29, Gomez, 23, talks about a range of issues that have plagued her career and image in the past year, including her controversial relationship with Justin Bieber and the treatments she will have to undergo for lupus.

Bieber dated Gomez intermittently from 2011 to 2014, with tabloids expounding on every possible rumor. Gomez now says "there's closure [between them] in a very good, healthy way," adding the two have seen each other and acknowledged mistakes they made as part of growing up. During the interview, Gomez had a message for potential suitors: "don't try to date me right now."

"I think people really wanted to see me fail," Gomez says. "I'd sit down in an interview and get the most harshly asked questions. Of course I got my heart broken. Of course I was pissed about it."

Gomez was also asked about her attitude towards former Disney actresses Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato who, like Selena, transitioned out of being child actors. She says that each of them has arrived at who they are today "in a really interesting way" that gave each of them their own identity. Selena's upcoming album represents her second solo effort since severing ties with Disney.

Gomez also spoke about her physique, particularly following a September radio interview where she said she received backlash after posing shirtless for the album's cover despite the cover's similarity to a topless photo shoot she did for V in February.

"You have to understand that I dealt with a lot of body-shaming this year and I've never experienced that before," she said in September.

Now, Gomez says she feels beautiful thanks to her confidence, which also makes her feel strong. She posed in various tops and a little black dress for the interview wearing little to no makeup.

With regards to lupus, she told Today show anchors on Monday that it is still "a little umcomfortable" talking about her battle with lupus. Gomez recently took a break from the spotlight in order to deal with her disease through chemotherapy sessions.