It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Rihanna still has a place in her heart for Chris Brown, given their recent musical collaborations and the fact that the Barbadian diva cried over the loss of her “best friend” in a preview for her Oprah’s Next Chapter interview. But many viewers of the episode (which aired last night) probably still found it hard to swallow when RiRi admitted out loud — and on air for the world to hear — that she still loves Brown.
“I think he was the love of my life. He was the first love and I see that he loved me the same way,” Rihanna told Oprah Winfrey during their interview in Barbados. “We were very young and very spontaneous. We ran free. We ran wild. We were falling in love going in at a really rapid pace and we forgot about ourselves as individuals.”
Fans of both singers have found it hard to reconcile with the pair’s rekindled friendship. The restraining order Brown was slapped with following his February 2009 assault on Rihanna was finally lifted this past February, and since then, the two artists have been seen partying at the same locations on more than one occasion.
“We’re very, very close friends,” Rihanna continued. “We built a trust again and that’s it. We love each other and we probably always will. And that’s not anything that we’re gonna try to change. It’s not something you can shut off if you’ve ever been in love.”
Catch more of Rihanna’s interview at The Hollywood Reporter, and let us know below what your thoughts are on the singer’s candid comments about her abusive ex-boyfriend.