Demi Lovato felt a “false sense of security” during her engagement to Max Ehrich.
The ‘Anyone’ hitmaker got engaged to Max in July last year after just four months of dating, and the couple split two months later.
And Demi has now said that whilst she “cared deeply” about Max, she only got engaged so that she could “prove to the world” she was okay following her 2018 near-fatal overdose.
She said: "I really had myself fooled, because it was the safe and expected thing. Obviously I cared deeply about the person, but there was something inside of me that was like, 'I have to prove to the world that I'm okay.' Now that I'm not engaged or married and I'm okay, I'm like, 'Wow. Isn't that so much more empowering?' It's not this false sense of security."
Demi, 28, said her engagement ring made things “really real”, but she felt so much better once she took it off.
She added to Entertainment Weekly magazine: "The second it was off, I was like, 'You know what? I'm good. I don't need that.’ I just don't need an object on my finger to make me feel like I've got my s*** together. It looks like stability, but it doesn't mean that it is."
Meanwhile, the ‘It’s OK Not To Be OK’ singer recently said she was "shocked" by Max’s reaction to their split, which saw him lash out on social media after he claimed Demi hadn't told him about her intent to leave, and had instead left him to find out online.
She said: "I mean, I was just as shocked as the rest of the world at some of the things that were said and done."
Demi - who has battled drug addiction and an eating disorder - admits that she was left upset by the split and has been "hanging in there" since she and Max parted ways.
In a candid video, she shared: "I'm really sad that things ended the way they did.
"The good news is, I haven't picked up any hard drugs or anything like that. I'm hanging in there. It's just s*****."
The 'Camp Rock' star later explained how she would find it hard to have another relationship after her experiences with Max.
Demi said: "The video I made earlier wasn't an accurate representation of what I'm going through. So I thought this whole time that I didn't miss him. I just miss the person that I started quarantining with. And I don't know how to give my heart to someone after this."
