Demi Lovato Says Comparisons To Selena & Miley Were “Challenging”
They were girls together.
Demi Lovato is opening up about her Disney days. Lovato grew up on the channel, alongside stars like Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus. During a March 3 episode of Keke Palmer’s podcast, Baby, This Is Keke Palmer, Lovato discussed her early acting career as a Disney darling — plus, how she felt about comparisons to Gomez and Cyrus.
According to Lovato, it was “challenging” to be pitted against each other. However, her mindset was never overly competitive. “Well, what was beautiful is Selena and I had a friendship prior to Disney Channel because we actually were on Barney together, so I felt this safety when I came [on] the Disney Channel, having a built-in friendship there already,” Lovato told Palmer. “I'm so grateful for that. [I] will always be grateful for the friendship that I ... continue to have with her.”
“It was challenging when people are comparing you to one another, and you naturally have insecurities at a young age, so you start comparing yourself to other people,” she continued. “But one thing my mom always instilled in me was there's room for everyone. It's not a competition .... you have our own voice, your own lane.”
Those words of wisdom helped Lovato manage that pressure. “That's what I really stuck by, and that's what kind of got me through that period,” she added, “I was always rooting for everybody.”
During the interview, Lovato and Palmer also talked about their past age-gap relationships, which they said stemmed from being in the industry so young. “I actually had this mantra that was like, if you’re going to work me like an adult, I’m going to party like an adult. And I got into some bad stuff at a young age,” Lovato said.
“I found myself dating. I’m 15, why was my boyfriend 20?” Palmer responded. “We were trying to find outlets, though, and a way to process this.”
“Why was my boyfriend 30? … Nobody our age could understand,” Lovato continued, seemingly referring to her romance with Wilmer Valderrama. “But then you look back in hindsight — when I turned 30, I was like, ‘That’s not OK.'”
