Selena Gomez is no dummy. The 23-year-old former child star praised her ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber while speaking with The New York Times about his recent comeback, stating that she’s always seen the talent in him.
“While people were writing that I was stupid for being in [the relationship], this is what I always saw in him,” Gomez told The Times. “I’m like, duh!”
“It’s all part of my story,” Gomez continued of her past relationship while referring to her new album, Revival. “I’m growing and changing. I was in a relationship, and I was being managed by my parents, and I was still under Hollywood and Disney, and I was being held to this expectation of being the good girl.”
“I knew deep down that this wasn’t what I wanted to do — being exhausted of forcing something that wasn’t right, even in my personal life. I had to have moments where I was crying and I was like, ‘Why am I not in love with what I do?’ I was forced to get very uncomfortable for a while in order to make the decisions I made,” Gomez revealed of switching labels and management in preparation of her upcoming album. “I definitely remind myself that I’m in control,” she concluded. “I feel like ultimately if I sit down and I think about a decision I need to make, it’s really within myself. I make the decision. Everything goes through me.”
As fans are well aware, Gomez and Bieber, 21, dated on-and-off from 2011, and seemingly ended things for good in 2014.
While talking with Elle recently, the “Good for You” songstress admitted she wants to separate herself from her past, but she’ll forever cherish Bieber as a friend. “I’ll forever support him and love him,” Gomez confessed. “We grew up together. I think people want it to be different…[but] I respect him. And I think he respects me, in a healthy manner.”
When asked if she’d ever date Bieber again, Gomez answered: “I don’t know!”
