Demi Lovato has been dating actor Wilmer Valderrama since 2010, and now she’s opened up to Latina about why he’s a better boyfriend than the guys she dated before.

“When I dated white guys, it wasn’t as passionate as my relationship with Wilmer,” Lovato told the magazine. “Maybe that’s just Wilmer. But I do believe that Latin people are just more expressive, more passionate with their emotions. He’s very manly, and he can be stubborn like Latino men can, but he’s protective and he cares so much and loves so hard."

It’s unclear whether Lovato’s interviewer specifically asked her if dating Valderrama is different because of his race, or if she volunteered that distinction on her own.

Lovato, who is of Mexican descent, also said she’s learning a lot from Valderrama’s Colombian and Venezuelan parents: “His mom teaches me to cook. She showed me how to make arepas."

Later in the interview, the “Confident” singer offered more hints about the direction her “soulful” new record is taking. “There’s a lot of pain that I experienced over the past year, and I’m so ready to write about it,” she said. “I’ve stayed sober through it all, I’m a stronger person, but it’s definitely been a very painful year.”