Selena Gomez spoke about dating in the spotlight in a recent interview and though she did not explicitly address her romance with ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber, she did say that the crazed media attention has almost forced her give up on having a private life.

The Come & Get It singer said she cannot hide when she has a boyfriend, and that she does not try to.

''I can't be afraid to live my life," she reportedly Observer magazine. "I had my first 'boyfriend' [Nick Jonas], which wasn't really a boyfriend, at 14, 15. You're young and you don't know how to be. You don't think, 'Now I have a boyfriend - let's keep it super-private and low key,' because that's not what you're thinking about.

''You're thinking about, "Oh my God, we're holding hands!" You're just thinking about stuff like that.''

Paparazzi photographers would not leave her and Bieber, 19, alone when they began dating in 2011. Even though they are rumored to have broken up in December 2012, reports continue to surface about their on and off relationship status. The 20-year-old admitted that she learned from her past relationships to try to be more private.

"Everybody falls in love, and you would never want to hide something you're so happy about," she said. ''But I've learned a lot. You keep the things that are super-private to yourself. I definitely want to do that now. But it's so hard.''

Instagram videos and pictures posted by their friends showed that Gomez and Bieber may have celebrated Fourth of July together. Bieber also posted on his own Instagram account recently a photo of himself with Gomez and captioned the image "heartbreaker."

Commenting on their relationship status, Bieber's mother, Pattie Mallette, said July 10 on The View that whether they are together or not "depends on what day it is."

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Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez