Demi Lovato may be a former Disney star, but at this stage in her career she relates more to Rihanna and Nicki Minaj than any of her fellow network alumni.

Speaking candidly in the upcoming September 2015 issue of Cosmopolitan, Demi discussed how her image has a certain authenticity to it that’s lacking from most of her fellow female pop stars. She said, “There are a lot of girls in pop. They have badass lyrics, but I feel like I'm the only person other than Rihanna and Nicki Minaj who isn't afraid to say, 'Try something on me and I'll f---king beat your ass.' There are people who can dress up and play the part, but their music doesn't say it."

Demi also spoke openly about her relationship with Wilmer Valderrama. She said the couple was never as on-and-off as the press made it seem, and could be traced back to the times she relapsed.

She said, "The only times we ever broke up were when I was relapsing, whether it was drugs or in a bad place and rebelling against everybody, not just him... People say that relapses happen before you use. Your mind starts setting up the relapse before you take that drink or that first hit. The times we'd broken up, I had already gone to that place of, Yeah, this is what's happening. I didn't realize it at the time, but I just wanted to sabotage everything around me so that I could sabotage myself."

Demi continued, saying Wilmer stuck around while she was in recovery, even though they'd just started dating: "We started dating when I turned 18… Right after that, I went to rehab. People told him, 'You should probably leave. She's on a spiral, and you're going to be sucked down with it.' But he was like, 'I'm not leaving. This is somebody I really care about.' We relate on a lot of levels. I've seen a lot of shit. Sh--t people don't know about. He's seen a lot of stuff too."

You can check out the full interview when the issue hits newsstands on August 11.

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