Rihanna doesn’t have casual sex even though she easily could because it would make her feel hollow.
The 27-year-old singer's love life is rarely far from the headlines, with her on/off relationship with rapper Chris Brown dominating news during their time together. He assaulted her in 2009 and they split and reunited several times before parting for good in 2013.
She's also been linked to the likes of Drake and baseball player Matt Kemp over the years. However, Rihanna insists Chris was her last official boyfriend and that she tries to steer clear of careless encounters.
“If I wanted to, I would completely do that,” she told Vanity Fair magazine of having sex for fun. “I am going to do what makes me feel happy, what I feel like doing. But that would be empty for me; that to me is a hollow move. I would wake up the next day feeling like s**t.
"When you love somebody, that’s different. Even if you don’t love them per se, when you care enough about somebody and you know that they care about you, then you know they don’t disrespect you. And it’s about my own respect for myself. A hundred per cent."
Rihanna's breakup with Chris was a difficult one and she has openly spoken about her affections towards him since his violent outburst. She admits she felt inclined to protect him, deeming herself his guardian angel. Despite trying hard to change his ways, Rihanna eventually came to terms with the fact that she deserved better.
"I felt that people didn’t understand him," she sighed. "Even after... But you know, you realise after a while that in that situation you’re the enemy. You want the best for them, but if you remind them of their failures, or if you remind them of bad moments in their life, or even if you say I’m willing to put up with something, they think less of you - because they know you don’t deserve what they’re going to give."
The musician insists she doesn't hate her ex-beau and that she will care about him until the day she dies. While they're not enemies, she added there's not much of a relationship between them now.
Chris was sentenced to community labour, domestic violence counselling and five years' formal probation for the assault.
