Demi Opened Up About How Her Eating Disorder Led To Her Relapse On 'Ellen'

A day before dropping her highly-anticipated comeback single "I Love Me," Demi Lovato stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show and got candid about her July 2018 relapse. The singer has never been one to shy away from getting vulnerable. That's why Demi Lovato's quotes about her relapse and eating disorder on Ellen are so honest, and send an important message about self-love.

During her March 5 appearance on Ellen, after DeGeneres praised Lovato's recent Super Bowl and Grammy Awards performances, she opened up about her experience with her former team, claiming they used to control her diet in extreme ways. (Elite Daily reached out to Lovato's current and former teams for further comment.)

"I lived a life for the past six years that I felt wasn't my own," Lovato said. "My life, I just felt, was so... controlled by so many people around me. If I was in my hotel room at night, they would take the phone out of the hotel room so I couldn't call room service. Or, if there was fruit in my hotel room, they would take it out because that's extra sugar. We're not talking about, like, brownies, and cookies, and candies and stuff. It was fruit."

Lovato revealed that her strict diet played into her substance use disorder relapse. "It led me to being really unhappy. My bulimia got really bad," she said. "I asked for help, and I didn't receive the help that I needed. So, I was stuck in this unhappy position... I'm thinking to myself, 'I'm six years sober, but I'm miserable. I'm more miserable now than when I was drinking. Why am I sober?'"

Lovato claims that when she reached out to her team for help, they told her she was being selfish. So, with nowhere to turn, one night, Lovato went to a party where there was "other stuff" there, and three months later, she was hospitalized for an overdose.

Now, Lovato has come out on the other side stronger, having gotten the help she needed. "I think it's important that I sit here on this stage and tell you at home, or you in the audience or you right here that if you do go through this, you yourself can get through it," Lovato said.

Lovato's new single "I Love Me" represents her journey to self-love and acceptance. Fans can hear the song when it arrives on Friday, March 6.

If you or someone you know has an eating disorder and needs help, call the National Eating Disorders Association helpline at 1-800-931-2237, text 741741, or chat online with a Helpline volunteer here. And if you or someone you know is seeking help for substance use, call the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP(4357).