Demi Lovato feels ''protective'' over Miley Cyrus.

The 20-year-old singer - who claimed she lost most of her pals when she went into rehab in 2010 - believes that despite their different personalities, she'll always have a close relationship with Miley because they are always open and honest with one another.

She explained: ''She knows how I feel about the whole partying thing. I love her to death and I'm always like, 'Just be careful,' and she's like, 'Dude, I'm chilling. It's fine.' But I care for her so much that I'm so protective, but she's good. She's got a good head on her shoulders.''

The pair - who met on the set of 'Hannah Montana' six years ago - are going head-to-head in the Best Female Video category at the VMAs next month in New York City with their songs 'Heart Attack' and 'We Can't Stop', but the Demi has nothing but love for her pal's rival track.

Demi said: ''I think it's ['We Can't Stop'] great. I think it's a good song ... it's a song a lot of people have fun to and if people are enjoying it, then great.''

The 'X Factor' USA judge admits she'd ''absolutely'' love to do a collaboration with the former Disney star, but is adamant there will be no twerking - an energetic dance move made popular by Nicki Minaj which involves a person shaking, wobbling and bouncing their hips and butt up and down - going on in the music video.

Speaking to MTV news, she explained: ''She's twerking and she looks amazing doing it. I don't want to do it in public. One, because people are going to be like, 'Oh, who twerks better?' And two, I'm really tired of the word 'twerking.' It's like 'swag', it's like, 'OK, just stop.' Or, 'YOLO,' just don't.''