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Demi Lovato has been through a lot these past six months -- and she's ready to tell the world about it with her new single, "Skyscraper." First, however, she paid a visit to Ryan Seacrest's radio show, to open up about her recovery from a serious eating disorder. Watch the video of Lovato and Seacrest's interview, below.
When asked where her troubles began, the 18-year-old former Disney Channel star tells Seacrest that her family has known about her eating issues for six years. Despite that, says Lovato, "I got to a point where I was just lying to everyone that was around me, lying about eating and being happy."
"There's so much pressure -- I feel like I live in a city where no woman eats," says Lovato with a laugh.
After all the lying, she says, admitting she had a problem became the hardest part. "It was the elephant in the room. Everyone knew about it but they didn't know how to approach it," Lovato admits. "And it was affecting every aspect of my life: I was cranky, I was irritable, I was not pleasant to work with... I became like a little brat on set... I was never intentionally trying to be that way, but I had so much going on in my head."
Though she doesn't go into details, Lovato says that she "ended up doing things that I regret to this day." Finally admitting she had a problem, the young singer-actress spent three months (including several major holidays) in a rehabilitation facility. Now she has a healthier self-image, friends who tell her when she's not eating enough -- and two new tattoos. The words "stay" and "strong" cover the self-mutilation scars on Lovato's wrists, a proud reminder of how far she's come.
"It was very symbolic for me to be able to cover that up," she explains, "and also replace it with something else that's permanent that I'll never be able to forget."
With the release of her as-yet-untitled upcoming album, Lovato will fully make the plunge into a music career. Although "Skyscraper" was recorded before her breakdown, she says it has much deeper meaning for her today. "Hopefully what this song does -- if only for my fans -- is it tells them that it's gonna be okay," she says earnestly. "No matter how hard your rock bottom is, you can rise above it and you can come back."
Lovato's video for "Skyscraper" premieres tonight on E!, along with a new video interview with Seacrest -- in which she talks about her cutting addiction, bulimia, and being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Watch the E! interview here.
