Lea Michele reveals how she found love after Cory Monteith's death
Lea Michele is opening up about finding love after Cory Monteith's death.
In July 2013, the actress lost Monteith, her boyfriend of two years and "Glee" co-star, when he died of a lethal mix of heroin and alcohol. With the help of her colleagues and friends like Kate Hudson, she slowly began to pick up the pieces.
Now, the "Scream Queens"star is gracing the cover of Flare magazine's October issue, and spilling intimate details about how she overcame losing one of the loves of her life.
"I wanted to make sure that I was okay with me, feeling strong and feeling happy on my own," the 28-year-old actress shared of finding love again. "I didn't want anybody to fill any holes for me -- that sounds sexual!"
The brunette beauty continued, "I wanted to make sure that I was a whole person again and that no one was coming into my life to put me back together. I needed to do that on my own."
The "Glee" gal, who has been dating Matthew Paetz, 30, for about a year now after meeting on the set of Michele's "On My Way" music video in April 2014, revealed that the time was right to move on.
"I worked very, very, very hard and I got back to that place where I was genuinely happy and strong and ready to live again and see the world and, you know, bring in more beautiful experiences. And that's when someone miraculously came into my life."
Back in May, the big-voiced starlet shared a sweet Instagram picture of Paetz kissing her on the cheek accompanied with a sweet birthday message. "Matthew, thank you for bringing such happiness into my life. For making me smile again and bringing such a bright joy into my every day," she wrote.
Although Michele is personally and professionally thriving with a hilarious new role in Ryan Murphy's "Scream Queens" and a second book -- "You First: Journal Your Way to Your Best Life" -- coming out, she still has to deal with the haters.
"I'm so proud of my success. I'm really proud of the life I've built and created for myself," she said. "I've kept my head on my shoulders to get to where I am. You're always going to run into critics."
Michele continued, "The only people I care about are the people that are close to me. It's a tough business, it's a tough town, and you really have to have a thick skin. I'm constantly learning, but I'm really proud of where I am."
The full interview with Michele is available now on Flare.com, and will be available on newsstands Sept. 14.