Rihanna: 'going back to brown was wrong'

Rihanna is "embarrassed" about her romance with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown, insisting she was "wrong" to reconcile with the shamed singer after he was arrested for beating her up.

The Umbrella hitmaker publicly discussed her personal turmoil for the first time since the February (09) assault on Thursday (04Nov09), during a US television interview on Good Morning America.

The 21-year-old singer confirms Brown held her in a headlock twice and bit her on the ear and fingers during the brutal attack, and hinted she reconciled with the Kiss Kiss star "eight or nine times" after the headline-grabbing incident.

However, Rihanna admits she is ashamed of her decision not to cut ties with her ex sooner.

She explains, "That's embarrassing that that's the type of person that I fell in love with. So far in love. So unconditional that I went back. It's humiliating to say this happened. To accept that? It's a traumatising experience. I stayed. I even went back after he beat me, which was wrong."

Rihanna is now using her own shocking experience to speak out against domestic violence, fearing her brief reunion with Brown would have a damaging effect on young girls in similar abusive relationships.

She explains, "There are a lot of women who've experienced what I did, but not in the public... It's completely normal to go back. You start lying to yourself the minute the physical wounds go away. It's not right. I learned the hard way, but again, this is what I want people to know. When I realised that my selfish decision for love could result in some young girl getting killed, I could not be easy with that part. I couldn't be held responsible for telling them go back.

"Even if Chris never hit me again, who is to say that their boyfriend won't? Who's to say that they won't kill these girls? These are young girls and I just didn't realise how much of an impact I had on these girls' lives until that happened. It was a wake up call for me big time. Especially when I took myself out of the situation. And I'll say that to any young girl who's going through domestic violence. Don't react off of love. F (F**k) love. Come out of the situation and look at it third person (sic) and for what it really is and then make your decision, because love is so blind."

Brown was sentenced to five years of probation, six months of community service and one year of domestic violence counselling in August (09) as a result of the attack.