Selena Gomez has spoken out for the first time about being diagnosed with lupus.

In an interview with Billboard magazine, the 23-year-old actress and singer revealed she had undergone chemotherapy to alleviate the symptoms of the autoimmune disease.

Addressing rumours that she’d been undergoing treatment for addiction when she had to cancel the Australian and Asian leg of her tour in December 2013, she said: “That’s what my break was really about. I could’ve had a stroke.”

Selena Gomez strips to just her knickers on new album artwork
Selena Gomez’s new album artwork for Revival

The actress took time out of the spotlight to seek treatment.

She said: “I wanted so badly to say, ‘You guys have no idea. I’m in chemotherapy. You’re a**holes.’ I locked myself away until I was confident and comfortable again.”

Lupus is a disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue. It can cause inflammation, swelling of joints, extreme fatigue, headaches, chest pain and hair loss – and can range from mild to chronic and life-threatening.

Selena said that being the subject of gossip while she was having treatment was difficult.

“I’m so f***ing nice to everybody and everyone is so vile to me,” she said.

“I’ve been working since I was seven. I’ve been a Unicef ambassador since I was 17. It’s so disappointing that I’ve become a tabloid story.”

Selena admitted that criticism of her body on the internet earlier this year was hurtful. “I was in a bikini and got publicly ripped for being overweight,” she said.

Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez (Yui Mok/PA)

“That was the first time I’d experienced body shaming like that. I believed some of the words they were saying. When somebody else has your self-esteem in their hands…”

But anger inspired her new album Revival, she explained: “The hate motivated me.

And she added: “This is my time. I’ve deserved this. I earned it. This is all me.”

Revival is released on Friday, October 9.