Demi Lovato says she hasn't been "by-the-book sober" since 2019
17 March 2021, 13:09
Demi Lovato- Dancing with the Devil | Official Trailer
In Dancing with the Devil, Demi Lovato says that she is sober from hard drugs but now has alcohol and weed in moderation.
Demi Lovato has opened up about her journey with sobriety and revealed that she is no longer completely substance-free.
Next week (Mar 17), Demi Lovato's new docuseries Dancing with the Devil comes out on YouTube. The four-part series sees Demi speak frankly about her 2018 overdose, her recovery and her life since then. In the trailer, Demi says: "I've had a lot of lives. I’m like a cat, you know? I’m on my ninth life. I’m ready to get back to doing what I love, which is making music."
Now, Demi has discussed how her approach to her own sobriety has changed ahead of the release of the documentary.
READ MORE: Demi Lovato suffered three strokes and a heart attack during near-fatal overdose
Speaking to Glamour, Demi said that she now allows herself to smoke weed and drink alcohol in moderation. Demi revealed that she was struggling to work through her eating disorder and develop a healthy relationship with food while being strictly sober. So, Demi called her recovery case manager, Charles Cook for advice and he asked her what she wanted to do.
Demi stated: "I called him and was like, ‘Something’s not right. I'm living one side of my life completely legalizing and this other side following a program that’s telling me if I slip up, I’m going to die. I think I want to try this balance thing in the substance side of my life too." She explained that her team were "worried" but supported her choice.
In a separate interview with New York Times, Demi said: "I haven’t been by-the-book sober since the summer of 2019. I realized if I don’t allow myself some wiggle room, I go to the hard [expletive]. And that will be the death of me."
Demi also revealed that she is well aware that she will get "blowback" for not being completely sober. Elton John appears in the documentary as a mentor and a friend and he even makes clear that he doesn't agree with her decision. He says: "Moderation doesn’t work. You either do it, or you don’t."
However, in her Glamour interview, Demi also made clear that her approach to sobriety isn't something for others to follow. She explained: "A one-size-fits-all solution does not work for everybody. What I’m encouraging people to do is just make choices for themselves. Autonomy, for me, is what changed my life."
