Demi Lovato discussed her intensely personal docuseries Dancing With the Devil on Friday night with Jimmy Fallon.
The series debuted at this year’s virtual South by Southwest festival and details the Grammy-nominated singer’s struggles with drug abuse, self-harm and eating disorders.
Fallon, declaring that he won’t allow himself to get emotional, referred to the series as “rough and tough” and asked Lovato if it felt “odd” to be that honest about her life.
“It was challenging,” said Lovato, explaining that she had to do a lot of work on herself behind the scenes before she was ready and felt “completely secure” in actually telling her story straight to the camera.
“It’s been really cathartic, really really therapeutic,” of the overall experience. She hopes that people can learn from what she went through, but also that the documentary “creates conversation” around those difficult topics.
“I had a physical reaction the first time that I watched it,” said the singer, “like — anxiety attack.” She went on to say that a part of telling her story was about taking ownership, and in particular owning her truth. “No matter what people say when they watch it, and whatever people think when they listen to my album [Dancing With the Devil…The Art of Starting Over], I am so excited about these two projects and I’m standing in such truth that nothing anyone can say will shake me.”
In one of its most revealing episodes, the series set the record straight about Lovato’s 2018 opioid overdose — in which she was minutes away from death and suffered a heart attack and three strokes. “My doctors said that I had five to 10 more minutes [to live],” she says in the documentary, about surviving the overdose.
Lovato’s late-night appearance also involved the singer talking about her collaboration with Ariana Grande for the track “Met Him Last Night.” It all ended on a playful note as she participated in a one-word song challenge with Fallon.