Demi Lovato: 'Wilmer Valderrama relationship reminded me of my past struggles'

Singer Demi Lovato ended her relationship with actor Wilmer Valderrama because he reminded her of her health battles.

The Confident singer split from Wilmer earlier this summer (16) after six years together and the 24-year-old explains Wilmer was with her while she battled substance abuse and mental health issues, and she was more than ready to let go of her past.

"I think it's healthy to be able to start over with someone else," she tells Glamour magazine. "Being sick was always a part of my relationship with him; I always had something wrong with me. I needed to let go of that. It was hard to depart from somebody who saw everything, but it may be nice to start fresh with somebody. Because that person I was when I was a lot younger is not who I am today."

Demi has been sober for several years and while she still struggles with her issues, she is focusing on helping others.

"I feel healthy, I feel happy," she says. "Back then I felt an emptiness inside of me, and I reached for so many things - a person, a substance, a behavior - to fill that void. And now there's not a void anymore. The void is filled by me taking care of myself.... Getting sober was difficult. I went into rehab, I came out, and I didn't stay sober. I still had issues occasionally. Now some days it's difficult; some days it's easy. But I like to focus on what I'm doing now, which is giving back."

And despite her breakup with the 36-year-old, she is not wallowing in her heartbreak.

"I feel really amazing," she told radio host Elvis Duran in July (16). "I feel really great and I'm growing. My life is just really, really exciting for me because I'm growing. It's new and fresh, and I feel free."