AceShowbiz -

Months after their shocking split, Hilary Duff breaks her silence over ex-boyfriend Joel Madden and his most recent girlfriend Nicole Richie, who's reported pregnant with his child. The singer-actress shares her feeling to Seventeen magazine in its August 2007 issue.

On dating him, Hilary said, "I was really happy in my relationship with Joel. I was with him from age 16 to 18. Those are important years. He's my first love, so I'll always care about him. But I definitely feel like a different person now that we broke up. And I DO feel happy!"

Claimed to feel shocked with what Joel did after their split, the beauty claimed "that's just so out of character for him," recalling back that when "we were together, he hated stuff like that, so I felt like I just really didn't know him as well as I thought I did."

On Joel's relationship with socialite Nicole Richie, Hilary addressed, "With the amount of time that we had invested in each other, I felt disrespected that he moved on so quickly. But some people don't want to deal with how they feel, so they cover it up. Rebound! I shouldn't say that. You know what, though? Now I don't care."

In other Hilary news, she's set to perform perform on "So You Think You Can Dance" show, singing her single "Stranger" during the live results show Thursday, July 12th (9:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed).