Selena Gomez Opens Up About Her Stay in Rehab and Life With Lupus

"I had to cancel my tour. I needed time to just be OK," Selena Gomez told GQ Magazine

Frustrated by rumors swirling about why she checked into a rehab facility in January 2014, Selena Gomez finally revealed the truth in GQ Magazine.

Between 2014 and 2015, Gomez spent a lot of time revamping her image and career. She dropped her manager, who was her mother at that point, and even let go of her Disney past by signing with Interscope Records. In October 2015, she would release "Revival," which has dominated the charts.

Whether it's her former relationship with Justin Bieber or her life with lupus, an autoimmune disease, the "Hands To Myself" singer doesn't want to talk about it anymore.

"First off, this is something that everyone always wants to fixate on. I got diagnosed with lupus. My mom had a very public miscarriage. So I had to cancel my tour. I needed time to just be OK," she told GQ, adding, "and I was going through leukemia." (She most likely meant chemotherapy, which can be used to treat lupus.)

PHOTOS: Selena Gomez's best looks

"I went to two different locations for those treatments. It's really frustrating, because I am 100 percent allowed to have that, but I think people just want to have some sort of..." she added, seemingly at a loss for words.

Her diagnosis was difficult, and she kept the news bottled up for a long time. Gomez told GQ she first revealed her diagnosis to a young child who was also ill, because she wanted the boy to know she understood.

"There was this kid that wouldn't look me in the eye at all... I wanted to get his attention, even though maybe it was too much. So I just said, 'Ask me anything you want,'" she recalled. "And he was the first person that I told, besides my best friend and family, because he asked me, 'Have you ever dealt with anything like this?' And I said, 'I have lupus. I was in the ICU for two and a half weeks. I was in this exact same room.' And it was the first time that he looked at me."

READ: Selena Gomez opens up about the inspiration behind Revival

Having gotten her lupus under control and heading on a world tour, Gomez is ready to move forward, but she knows it will be an uphill battle.

"I just have to be patient. It's slowly dissolving the older I get. And I just have to be patient and make great things with quality, from producing to singing to acting. And one by one, I will be able to change the dialogue and people won't care about everything that's happened to me."

PHOTOS: Selena Gomez's street style

Copyright E! Online
Contact Us