‘One day. I remember I was in New York at the Trump Hotel and I woke up and I just knew I was over it. I needed that wake-up call in my life. I needed a turning point, and that’s what God was giving to me,’ she said.

Rihanna attracted plenty of criticism for her brief reconciliation with the No Air singer – currently completing his court-ordered community service – after the headline-making assault. ‘All this terrible stuff they say to you, it breaks you down,’ she says of that time. ‘[But] once you’re back on your feet – if you ever make it back on your feet – that’s the ultimate achievement.’

Now dating US baseball star Matt Kemp, Rihanna says she has now moved on and is happy again. ‘I feel like I smile for real this time. The smiles come from inside, and it exudes in everything I do.

‘People feel my energy is different. When I smile they can tell that it’s pure bliss and not just a cover up.’ The gorgeous photoshoot, in which Rihanna wears a dramatic Sonia Rykiel dress and Manolo Blahnik heels, appears in next months’ Marie Claire magazine.

The singer’s hair and make-up guru Karin Darnell says of her client’s trend-setting locks: ‘She’s been dying to go red for ages!’ ‘That’s why she’s such a style icon, because she’s constantly changing – a true chameleon.’