Demi Lovato, 28, is continuing her honesty streak by divulging more details about her 2020 engagement and subsequent split from actor Max Ehrich.
The Princess Protection Program actress and Heart Attack singer told Entertainment Weekly this week that “(she) really had (herself) fooled because it was the safe and expected thing.”
Lovato went on to say that getting engaged was her way of showing people she was fine after her 2018 overdose.
Trying to show the world she was okay
“Obviously I cared deeply about the person, but there was something inside of me that was like, ‘I have to prove to the world that I’m okay,'” Lovato said
“Now that I’m not engaged or married and I’m okay, I’m like, ‘Wow. Isn’t that so much more empowering?’ It’s not this false sense of security.”
Lovato and Ehrich had a whirlwind romance, beginning dating in March 2020 and getting engaged just four short months later in July. They then split three months after that in September.
The reasons behind the break-up were due in large part to what Lovato described as her discovery of disingenuous intentions on Ehrich’s part.
According to a September 2020 article in People magazine, sources close to Lovato explained how the quick engagement and break-up impacted the singer.
“It was very hurtful to Demi when she realized that Max’s intentions weren’t genuine. Breaking off the engagement was not an easy decision … Demi and Max were basically together 24/7 for months, they lived in a bubble with zero stress and everything was just fun. Max shot up in fame, and it’s been hard. He got wrapped up in [Hollywood].″
Lovato reportedly had the feeling Ehrich’s intentions were less than genuine and believed he was merely using her name to further his own image and career.
Lovato has been very honest lately and has not been shy about sharing personal details about her overdose, career, and past traumas.
She recently discussed her 2018 overdose, saying that she had “five to ten minutes” left to live and discussing her health issues following the overdose.
The artist suffered one heart attack and three strokes and said that the damage to her body still impacts her life today.
Brain damage and health issues
“I was left with brain damage, and I still deal with the effects of that today. I don’t drive a car because I have blind spots in my vision,” Lovato said.
“For a long time, I had a really hard time reading. It was a big deal when I was able to read a book, which was like two months later because my vision was so blurry.”
Despite the challenges to put the pieces of her life back together, Lovato has a lot to celebrate this year. After months of anticipation, her new four-part docuseries, Dancing With the Devil, premiered on YouTube on March 23.
The documentary focuses on Lovato’s life leading up to her accidental overdose and highlights her struggles with drugs and alcohol, as well as shedding light on other damaging experiences that served to make rehab more challenging.
She revealed she was raped at age 15, during the height of her Disney career, and that her dealer took advantage of her compromised state the night of her overdose.
“I didn’t just overdose. I also was taken advantage of…When they found me, I was naked, I was blue. I was literally left for dead after he took advantage of me,” Lovato said in her documentary.
“When I woke up in the hospital, they asked if we had had consensual sex. There was one flash that I had of him on top of me. I saw that flash and said, ‘Yes.’ It wasn’t until a month after the overdose that I realized, ‘You weren’t in any state of mind to make a consensual decision.'”
Dancing With the Devil parts one and two are currently available to watch on YouTube. Parts three and four are scheduled to come out on March 30 and April 6.