Lea Michele Opens Up About New Love After Losing Cory Monteith

"I’m so proud of my success... I’m really proud of the life I’ve built and created for myself," Lea Michele tells Flare magazine. "The only people I care about are the people that are close to me. It’s a tough business, it’s a tough town, and you really have to have a thick skin." No doubt losing her cast mate and former boyfriend Cory Monteith spurred along some of those hard-to-learn life lessons. In her interview as the October issue's cover star, Michele confesses that it has taken her some time to allow love back into her life. "I wanted to make sure that I was okay with me, feeling strong and feeling happy on my own," the Scream Queens star tells the mag of her decision to stay single after Monteith's death. "I didn’t want anybody to fill any holes for me — that sounds sexual! I wanted to make sure that I was a whole person again, and that no one was coming into my life to put me back together. I needed to do that on my own." "I worked very, very, very hard and I got back to that place where I was genuinely happy and strong and ready to live again and see the world and, you know, bring in more beautiful experiences. And that’s when someone miraculously came into my life.” These days, the 28-year-old actress is seeing model Matthew Paetz — and if her Instagram account is any indication, the couple seems to be in a really happy, healthy, loving place. It's good to see Lea Michele beaming again; she definitely deserves to come out on top.