Rihanna has spoken to Oprah about her split from Chris Brown, saying she was worried about him after his arrest over allegations he beat her in February 2009.

She admitted that she was devastated when the story broke, saying: "It happened. It happened to me. And it happened to me in front of the world, it was embarrassing, it was humiliating, it was hurtful, and you know, it's not easy."

She says when it came to Chris, however, she was more sad than angry: "I lost my best friend - like everything I knew switched in a night, and I couldn't control that.

"So, I had to deal with that and that's not easy for me to understand, interpret and it's not easy to interpret on camera, not with the world watching.

"So it was hard for me to even pay attention to my mind and figuring things out because now it became a circus and I felt protective - like I felt like the only person they hate right now is him."

She went on: "It was a weird confusing space to be in because as angry as I was, as angry and hurt and betrayed, I just felt like he made that mistake because he needed help and like who's going to help him.

"Nobody's going to say he needs help, everybody's going to say he's a monster without looking at the source. And I was more concerned about him."

The entire interview will air on "Oprah's Next Chapter" on the OWN Network on Sunday, August 19 at 9pm EDT, or 0100 GMT on Monday.