Charlie Puth: 'Selena Gomez needed a break'

Pop star Charlie Puth has applauded pal Selena Gomez for taking a break last year (16) to focus on her health.

The singers became friends while working on the collaboration We Don't Talk Anymore, and he was as concerned as anyone when Selena walked away from her world tour last year (Aug16) to tackle anxiety, panic attacks and depression linked to her lupus battle.

Gomez spent 90 days out of the limelight and returned in style at the American Music Awards in November (16).

She also returned to Instagram recently to mark the fifth anniversary of the end of her hit Disney show The Wizards of Waverly Place, and Puth is glad she's back.

He's also happy she took a much-needed break.

"I think it's good and I think it's great that she was taking some time off for herself, because I see it on a much smaller scale - people..., who are maybe not necessarily fans, seeing you as an object and shouting things at you," he tells MTV. "Real fans won't scream obscene things out at you, but it's important to feel like a human again. So, I think her taking some time off is a really good thing.

"I can feel it getting to myself sometimes. I'll be emotionally drained and kind of lifeless. So if I take like, a week off and just go hiking, I don't look at Twitter every five minutes, but just hit the giant refresh button."

Selena explained why she needed a break at the American Music Awards, telling the audience, "I had to stop, because I had everything and I was absolutely broken inside... I kept it too much together to where I let myself down."