Demi Lovato's Dancing with the Devil
The following article contains details of rape, sexual violence and drug overdose which some readers may find upsetting
The first two episodes of Demi Lovato's Dancing with the Devil dropped on YouTube last night.
In the docuseries, she goes into detail on her 2018 hospitalisation for the first time, and shares exactly what happened.
Episode 1:
In episode one, Demi discusses her relationship with her late father, her eating disorder and her sobriety.
Demi & her father
Demi opened up about her late father, and the circumstances of his death.
She revealed they had an, "estranged relationship," and she always, "longed," for that father/ daughter relationship.
However, she said she, "resented him because he was an addict and an alcoholic and was abusive to [her] mom."
For this reason she cut him out of her life.
She said they don't know the exact day that he died because his death was quite, "complicated."
"All we know is that by the time he was found, his body was too decomposed to have an open casket."
Demi said he had been dead for about a week and a half before anybody found him.
And her biggest fear for him was that he would end up alone.
"And he did, he died alone," she said.
Demi said she often felt guilty for being a mental health advocate, when she couldn't help her own dad.
"That really ate up at me," she said, "But ultimately I know that he was too far gone at that point.
"He needed to realise that he needed help himself."
Demi's eating disorder
Demi also spoke about her eating disorder, and where it stemmed from.
She said she grew up taking part in beauty pageants that destroyed her self esteem.
"I remember thinking, 'If I don't win this pageant, I will never eat again.'"
The actress later shot to fame for her roles on hit Disney Channel shows and movies.
She played the lead roles in Camp Rock and Sonny With A Chance.
Demi was constantly trying to be the best in everything she did, and tried her best to please everyone around her.
Matthew Scott Montgomery shared what it was like from his point of view, as her best friend through all of this.
"It wasn't until the last few years that I really fully realised the impact that eating disorders have had on her."
He said as, "insane," as it sounds, they had to be very careful about what they ate around her.
Matthew said her old team were very controlling.
And he reckons they could have been this way so that she, "wouldn't relapse in her eating disorder."
"It totally backfired. The control and restriction was way too toxic for her and she was miserable."
Demi's former assistant Jordan recalled having to spend the night with her because she had, "[eaten] a cookie."
While her former choreographer and creative director Dani, said she always felt like she was, "walking on egg shells."
"Like, what I was eating, around who, what we had in our dressing room, what kind of food..."
In the documentary, it's revealed that Demi wasn't allowed to hang around with anyone that wasn't sober.
And everyone around her had to be drug tested.
The 28-year-old became emotional in the documentary as she admitted there's so much pressure for women in this industry to look and dress a certain way.
Demi's sobriety
Demi had been sober for six years before her relapse in 2018, but she was miserable.
She remembers the night she relapsed very clearly, "It wasn't even 30 minutes before I called someone that I knew had drugs on them."
The singer said she went to a party that night and ran into her old dealer.
"That night I did drugs that I had never done before," she admitted.
Matthew said he received a text from her saying she had decided to start drinking again.
He went to see her and she was fine, "she can hide stuff really, really well."
Demi said, "It was only two weeks until I was introduced to heroine and crack cocaine."
During a trip to Bali, the artist realised she had become dependent on drugs and knew she had to cut it out.
That was when she wrote her track Sober.
Demi went on tour and found herself, "drinking a lot."
When she came back to L.A. she started heavily using.
And she was very good at hiding this from her friends.
Her friends and family all revealed she's very good at hiding things.
On July 23rd 2018, she went out with some friends, and they all ended up back at her house.
In the early hours of the morning, she said she was going to bed, "But the reality of it was I had called one of my dealers over."
Episode 2:
In episode two of the docuseries, Demi goes into detail on her overdose.
Her friends and family reveal they found out about it through the media.
And her team share exactly what happened when they found her.
That morning
Demi's former assistant Jordan found her unresponsive in her bed the next day.
Jordan called Demi's head of security and chief of staff, Max Lea for help.
While she was waiting for Max, more and more people showed up.
She called 911 and was told to tell them not to use sirens, but they told her that wasn't possible.
Jordan recalled how Demi's entire body turned blue, "It was the craziest thing I've ever seen."
Max added, "It was really tough to watch."
Demi's friends and family found out about her overdose through the media.
Her mother Dianna said the texts came flooding in just before she received a call from Demi's team explaining what had happened.
She was told, "She's breathing, we're at the hospital, but she's not talking."
Demi's stepdad, Eddie, said he was told the next 24 hours were vital.
Neurologist Dr. Shouri Lahiri said her, "oxygen levels were dangerously low."
The singer's mother, Dianna said, "They put her in ICU, she had a tube in her neck that was taking her blood into a machine, cleaning it, and then putting it back into her neck."
Demi shared, "I had three strokes, I had a heart attack..."
"I can't drive anymore and I have blind spots in my vision."
"Sometimes when I go to pour a glass of water, I'll like totally miss the cup..."
"I'm really lucky to be alive," Demi realises.
"My doctors said that I had five to 10 more minutes and had my assistant not come in, I wouldn't be here today."
When the singer woke up, she was blind, and couldn't see her sister who was sitting by her bedside.
Demi's dealer
Demi said she didn't just overdose, she was also, "taken advantage of," by her drug dealer.
Her friend Sirah said he didn't mention that what he was supplying her with was, "laced with fentanyl."
"He also ended up getting her really high and leaving her for dead."
Demi said, "When they found me, I was naked, I was blue, I was literally left for dead after he took advantage of me."
The singer said when she woke up in the hospital, she was asked if the sex was consensual and she said yes.
She later realised she wasn't in, "any state of mind to make a consensual decision."
Episode 3 drops March 30th.
If you or anyone you know has been affected by sexual violence you can contact the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre on 1800 778 888.
And if you need to talk about anything, you can freephone Samaritans any time on 116 123.
Find out more here.
