Jason Merritt/Getty ImagesBest friends forever! Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato are tighter than ever after enduring a rough patch just a few years ago. The childhood pals drifted apart around 2010, the same year Lovato entered rehab. Gomez opens up about their fractured friendship in the March 2014 issue of Seventeen magazine.
In fact, Gomez says Lovato's willingness to share her struggles with the public inspired her to reconnect with the "Made in the USA" singer. "Demi's very, very strong. She's the only person that I would tell the deepest, darkest secrets to. The only person."
"I've known her since we were 7, and we did fall apart for a while," Gomez says of Lovato, who sought treatment for an eating disorder and self-harm issues. "She was going through things and I was so young and it was confusing. I processed it saying, 'OK, I don't understand what she's going through so I'm just going to do this.' I don't think it was fair, and I'm so happy that I have her back in my life now."
Gomez, 21, praises Lovato, 21, for seeking help and turning her life around. "I feel like we're all given what we can handle, and clearly someone thought she could handle so much—and she could, and she did. And she's incredible for that. I couldn't imagine going through some of the things that she went through, and the fact that she is who she is today is insane—she's one of my inspirations."
Former Sonny With a Chance star Lovato spoke about their rekindled relationship during a May 2013 interview with MTV News. "We've been through a lot together," she admitted. "We've had periods of times when we grew apart, and we just didn't really talk. But now we're in a place where we realize that life is so short, and that when you have people in your life that love you so much, then you should just always be around them."
Lovato added that she loves "everything" about the ex Wizards of Waverly Place star. "She has a great soul, she's talented, she's beautiful, and she will always be really, really close to my heart."