INTERVIEWS

INTERVIEW: Demi Lovato Opens Up on Her New YouTube Originals Docuseries, ‘Dancing with the Devil,’ Streaming March 23

YouTube Originals

Demi Lovato opens up on her new YouTube Originals Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil, which premieres on March 23.

“I had so much to say over the past two years, wanting to set the record straight about what it was that happened; any time that you suppress a part of yourself, it’s gonna overflow,” Lovato shared in the recently released trailer for the series.

The singer and activist spoke openly on the Youtube Originals TCA Winter Tour panel this Wednesday, that with the creation of this project, she wanted to “set the record straight” after being hit hard by the headlines during her previous near-fatal overdose at her home. “I wanted to reveal it all for my fans and say, hey, this is who I am, and this is where I’m at today. And this is the journey that got me here,'” Demi continued. “If it helps you, then I hope that it can, because that was ultimately my purpose in putting this out was to be able to help people who have been on the same path as I have.”

YouTube Originals

Glitter asked Demi, What did you learn about yourself after completing the project and what do you hope most resonates with viewers focusing on self-love and mental health?” She replied, “What I learned is that, it’s so much more than just mental health, you know? My life is now about spiritual growth and how I can help everyone, even people that don’t have mental illnesses, how we can help elevate everyone’s vibrations so that we can live in a more positive planet. That’s how I navigate through my day; how are my choices today going to affect those around me in a positive way? How am I going to better myself today? So, hopefully, people can see that in the doc as well.”

Demi spoke candidly that she suffered from brain damage after her near-fatal overdose. “I had crossed a line that I had never crossed before … I snapped,” she stated. “I had three strokes. I had a heart attack. My doctors said that I had five to ten more minutes [to live].”

“I don’t drive a car because I have blind spots in my vision,” she added. “For a long time, [I] had a really hard time reading. Reading was a big deal when I was able to read out of a book, which was two months later because my vision was so blurry, I dealt with a lot of the repercussions and I think they are kind of still there to remind me of what could happen if I ever get into a dark place again. I’m grateful for those reminders but I’m so grateful that I’m someone who didn’t have to do a lot of rehabbing. The rehabbing came in the emotional side and the therapeutic side internally. I did a lot of work after that, just not physical.”

YouTube Originals

“It’s been two years since I came face-to-face with the darkest point in my life, and now I’m ready to share my story with the world,” Lovato shared. “For the first time, you’ll be able to see my chronicle of struggle and ongoing healing from my point of view. I’m grateful that I was able to take this journey to face my past head-on and finally share it with the world.”

Lovato also spoke on the creation of her new music, when asked what the pluses and minuses of being open with people that look to her for inspiration were, when she stated, “I think we have to look at that question and ask, is it really a problem of what I have to share my personal life with my hands? You know, I think the way that I get around that is reprograming my beliefs into saying this is not a burden anymore. This is an opportunity to be able to share my experience with others and let them in and see how are they going to view my documentary in ways that are going to help them in their lives. That’s my biggest purpose for this documentary, you know, in that I’ve been able to showcase a lot of my music that I’ve made over the last year and a half, two years, and what is going to make my next album. It has been so cathartic, so therapeutic. I couldn’t be more excited for everyone to hear what I’m working on. But first, you have to see the doc and you have to see what got me to the place that I am in when you listen to the album.”

Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil will premiere March 23 on YouTube.