LOS ANGELES: American singer-actress Demi Lovato is willing to stand up for herself.

The Cool for the Summer hit-maker, who sought treatment in rehab for an eating disorder, self-harming, alcohol and drug abuse in 2010 after she hit a back-up dancer while on a flight to South America, insists she would never attack anyone now, but would defend herself if she felt disrespected, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Speaking to the new issue of Cosmopolitan magazine, she said, “I’m not proud of the mistakes that I’ve made. At the same time, my past shows what I’m capable of. I’m a wiser person today. On a plane in Colombia, I probably won’t hit you. But if you disrespect me, I can’t say that I won’t come at you. I’ll just never throw the first punch any more.”

She is also critical of her own gender and believes girls can be very “catty” which is not a good thing. “I wish I could word this in a way that doesn’t sound b***hy, but I don’t f**k around. Girls can be catty with one another. Nobody really tries to pill s**t on me because they know I physically don’t put up with it,” she said.