Are you ready to know more about the former child star?
BY YASMIN VINCE, IMAGE BY WIKICOMMONS
Demi Lovato (she/they) has spent their life in the spotlight. From being on Barney & Friends to releasing chart toppers, they have been working for over two decades. Most recently, they shed further light on the brutal reality of being a kid working in the entertainment industry through a documentary called Child Star.
Before you sit down to watch the documentary, join us and we brush up on our facts about the Disney kid turned international pop-star…
They are a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Lovato began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 2016 and has since obtained a purple belt in the fighting style. Their trainer, Danielle Martin, described Lovato as a “natural fighter”.
Lovato used to be obsessed with Kelly Clarkson
The singer has cited several powerhouse vocalists as inspiration, including Christina Aguilera, Beyonce and Aretha Franklin. While Kelly Clarkson was also an inspiration, she was a little more as well.
As a child, Lovato was obsessed with Clarkson and even made her AOL name Little Kelly as an ode to the singer.
Their mother was a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader
Dianna De La Garza, Demi Lovato’s mother, spent a season cheering with the Dallas Cowboys after high school. Then Dianna Hart, she only cheered for one season before leaving to pursue a career as a country music singer.
She was not as successful as she wanted to be and this was a factor in pushing Lovato to pursue fame. In Child Star, De La Garza said: “I wanted to give them every opportunity I could to let them do what I didn’t get to do.”
Their half sister was also a child actor
Madison De La Garza, the daughter of Lovato’s mother and her second husband, Eddie, started acting when she was seven. Her most prominent role was as Juanita Solis, Gabrielle’s (Eva Longoria) daughter on Desperate Housewives.
She has also played a younger version of Lovato on Sonny With A Chance. Now 22, De La Garza is pregnant with her first child.
Lovato began acting at 10
Their first role was in Barney & Friends in 2002. They continued to audition for other projects following appearing on the kids show but struggled to get roles until six years later, when she booked both Camp Rock and Sonny With A Chance.
The same year, they released their first album Don’t Forget. They have continued to act and release music to this day, albeit on an on and off basis. Most hiatuses have been taken for mental health reasons.
They are a mental health activist
Lovato has been a mental health activist since 2013, when they started to pay for the treatment costs of mental illness patients through the Lovato Treatment Scholarship. The scholarship was set up as a tribute to their father following his death, but another factor was Lovato’s own mental health issues.
The former child star suffered from bulimia nervosa, bipolar disorder and substance abuse. They have attended rehab several times since they turned 18 and overdosed on opioids in 2018. Lovato has been very open about their drug addiction and is currently sober.
They are also an LGBTQIA activist
Lovato received GLAAD’s Vanguard Award in 2016 for their work as an LGBTQIA rights activist. This included spearheading the Human Rights Campaign for marriage equality in the year before and their work pushing back against the 2013 Defense of Marriage Act.
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