21-year-old X Factor judge and pop artist, Demi Lovato, came clean about her experience battling drug and alcohol abuse in a recent interview with Access Hollywood.
“I would smuggle [cocaine onto the plane], basically, and just wait until everyone in first class would go to sleep and I would do it right there. I’d sneak to the bathroom and I’d do it,” said the former Disney Channel sensation.
Lovato said she “couldn’t go 30 minutes to an hour without cocaine.”
It’s no secret that Lovato has struggled with emotional instabilities in the past. Lovato was open about cutting herself and coping with bulimia to explain the sudden decision to check herself into rehab in 2010.
Lovato now opens up, with “100 percent honesty,” exactly how and why she was able to make it through her strife.
“I was going to the airport and I had a Sprite bottle just filled with vodka, and it was just nine in the morning and I was throwing up in the car– and this was just to get on a plane to go back to L.A., to the sober living house that I was staying at. . . . When I hit that moment I was like, ‘It’s no longer fun when you’re doing it alone,’” she said.
After some time, Lovato realized that her younger sibling, Madison, was perhaps the strongest source of motivation when it came time to face her recovery. Lovato wanted to set a good example for her sister, and was told by her mother that if she “didn’t get sober,” they would be forced to return to Texas.
Lovato recalled thinking, “‘Wow, I’m one of those people…I gotta get my sh*t together.’”
Junior Mathilde Zanelly, though not a fan of Lovato as an artist, hopes that the superstar can avoid reverting back to her old habits. “I think that it’s amazing how much an addiction like that can shape your life, and it’s really no good. I hear she’s kind of a humanitarian now, and I think that’s great.”
Lovato has said that her life has been “much better” knowing that her experience overcoming challenges with drugs and body image have influenced the younger generation. She believes that “there needs to be someone that stands out and says it’s not about molly and partying and all that stuff.”
In contrast, pop-icon Miley Cyrus has been known to promote the party-girl lifestyle Lovato so strongly disapproves of.
Lovato has been quick to shield herself from rumors claiming she “dissed” Cyrus, by saying, “[Miley] knows how I feel about the whole partying thing. I love her to death, and I’m always like, ‘Okay, just be careful.’ I care for her so much. I’m so protective.”
Senior Cori Sidell is supportive of Lovato’s recovery, stating that she feels Lovato has transformed her lifestyle quite well. “Though the news of drug abuse came as a shock to me, I’m proud of her for being completely honest and open about it. And using her past experiences to educate and help kids today is something genuinely inspiring.”
Within the last three years, Lovato has checked into rehab, checked out of rehab, and joined countless charity works and awareness programs to show the world her ability to “stay strong.”
Lovato assured her fans that she is fully dedicated to remaining sober. “I’ve always been a really motivated, driven fighter, so when I first got sober I was like, ‘I’m gonna show all of you. You think I can’t get sober? Well watch me!’”