I'm urging all women, I ask them the first time men hit you, please walk away. There is help out there. There are a lot of places that you can go and get help. That's the first step to your freedom and to your life is to walk away.

Everything starts with the inner being, your inner self - it all comes from you and we so often forget that. We think, "He made me angry." He didn't make you angry; you made yourself angry. Don't allow him to get to your inner space.

I'll be honest with you: love is not always what we think it is. It is a roller coaster ride going through this, and it's beautiful at the same time.

I can honestly say that I am happier now than I have ever been. For the first time in my life I feel free.

I would love to have a rapper on one of my songs, like Ludacris, or the 'it's so hot in here' guy, Nelly.

I've always wanted to adopt kids ever since I was 16 years old. I always said I'm going to adopt, I'm going to adopt. There's too many kids in the world that need love and attention, I can give it to them.

There's a lesson to be learned out of everything we go through in life. I recall when I left [Jack Gordon], and my mother was so upset. "How could you allow him to beat you? You should really be upset with him." And I said, "Mother, I can't be." She goes, "Why?" I said, "Because I can't harbor hatred in my heart." I was extremely religious and extremely naïve. God took me through that for a reason, for me to learn the outcome.