Selena Gomez took home the award for Favorite Female Artist (Pop/Rock) at the American Music Awards on Sunday night (November 20), and she had some heartfelt words to share from the podium as she accepted it.

Gomez, who has been taking some time away from the spotlight to work on her mental health, explained just how much she’s struggled with the pressures of fame.

“Most of you know a lot of my life whether I liked it or not,” she said. “I had to stop, because I had everything and I was absolutely broken inside. I kept it all together enough to where I would never let you down, but I kept it too much together to where I let myself down.”

She also relayed a message directly to her fans. “I’m not trying to get validation, nor do I need it anymore,” she said. “Thank you so much to my fans because you guys are so damn loyal and I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

Gomez closed with some widely applicable words of advice: “If you are broken, you don’t have to stay broken.”