Teen star Demi Lovato opens up about eating disorder

Teen star Demi Lovato opens up about eating disorder

Demi Lovato, the 18-year-old pop star and actor, has, in a tell-all story to People magazine, admitted that her eating disorder had spiraled out of control. The Texas born artist, of Irish, Italian and Mexican origin, said she was throwing up blood at the height of her disorder.

Lovato’s health issues were discovered by the media, after an altercation she had had with her troupe members when she was on a performing tour with the Jonas Brothers. Last December, Alex Welch, was punched by Lovato, who she thought has ratted on Lovato’s partying to her stepfather and tour managers. Welch, a dancer in the show, had said that she was absolutely blindsided by the attack, as Lovato hadn’t even asked the dancer if she had complained about her. The story unraveled in the media, with Welch demanding an apology, suing the young Disney (NYSE: DIS) star and walking away with a settlement, which her representatives say, she gave away to a charity.

Following the incident, Lovato checked into a rehab centre to cope with a deadly combination of bipolar disorder, food issues and self-harm. At the time, that the young star checked into the treatment centre, the reasons weren’t revealed, with her rep only releasing a generic statement that said, “Demi Lovato left her tour early this weekend in order to seek medical treatment for emotional and physical issues she has dealt with for some time. Demi has decided to take personal responsibility for her actions and seek help. She is doing just that.”

Lovato started her acting career at the age of 7 with a children’s series, Barney & friends. She was later discovered by Disney (NYSE: DIS) and became the story of their Camp Rock series. Camp Rock, which was a made-for-television film, was watched by 8.9 million viewers, making Lovato another huge teen star created by the Television Network, that has produced other teen heartthrobs like Miley Cyrus, Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Effron.

In the People (NYSE: TWX) magazine story, Demi said, “When I was about 15, I was only eating two meals a week, but I wasn’t losing any more weight because my body adjusted to that. So I tried new things: laxatives, fasts – nothing was working,’ said the 18-year-old. I decided maybe I should start throwing up. At my worst, I was doing it five times a day. I threw up so hard and so much, it was just blood in the toilet.”

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Posted by Greg Canale on Apr 21 2011. Filed under Entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry