Demi Lovato Sets The Record Straight: 'I Had Three Strokes, I Had A Heart Attack, My Doctors Said That I Had 5-10 More Minutes'
It’s been over two years since Demi Lovato nearly lost her life after a drug overdose that sent her straight to the hospital. Now, the brave singer is finally coming forward to share her story with the world about the night that forever changed her life.
"I had crossed a line that I had never crossed before," the 28-year-old reveals in the upcoming docuseries Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil. "I snapped."
In the upcoming doc, set to premiere on March 23, Lovato talks candidly for the first time about what actually happened on the night of July 24, 2018.
Reports quickly flooded the internet that the singer was rushed to the hospital from her Hollywood Hills home and had to be revived with Narcan — an emergency medication to reverse the effects of a narcotics overdose.
Over the coming months, rumors flew about what the pop star had been doing behind closed doors on the night that nearly ended her life, but the singer has remained mostly tight-lipped, only providing minor details since that night.
Still, the "Sober" singer continuously promised fans that she would one day speak about the dark time during which she had relapsed.
In the new teaser for the upcoming YouTube Originals series, Lovato reveals: "I had so much to say over the past two years, wanting to set the record straight about what it was that happened.
"Any time that you suppress a part of yourself, it's gonna overflow," she says. “I had three strokes. I had a heart attack. My doctors said that I had 5-10 more minutes [to live]."
Set to the documentary’s upcoming title track, "Dancing With the Devil," Lovato seems to hold nothing back in the doc trailer. The upcoming four-part series will feature interviews with her family and friends, some filled with tears when the world thought they were close to losing the pop star forever.
The docuseries also includes commentary from the likes of Elton John and Christina Aguilera, as well as pals Sirah and Matthew Scott Montgomery. Lovato's mother, Dianna De La Garza, stepfather, Eddie de la Garza, and sisters also make appearances.
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According to Entertainment Tonight, Lovato revealed at the virtual TCA press tour on Wednesday, February 17, that she was left with brain damage following the overdose.
"I don't drive a car because I have blind spots in my vision," she told reporters. "For a long time, [I] had a really hard time reading. Reading was a big deal when I was able to read out of a book, which was two months later because my vision was so blurry, I dealt with a lot of the repercussions and I think they are kind of still there to remind me of what could happen if I ever get into a dark place again.
"I'm grateful for those reminders but I'm so grateful that I’m someone who didn't have to do a lot of rehabbing," Lovato added. "The rehabbing came in the emotional side and the therapeutic side internally. I did a lot of work after that, just not physical."
But she's not only getting real about her drug use — the trailer alludes to heroin usage. The doc is also slated to cover other topics such as her whirlwind (and short-lived) engagement to actor Max Ehrich and her current relationship with substances.
(When she is asked if she is now sober in the trailer, the camera cuts out.)
Why is Lovato coming clean? To help others, she says. "If it helps you, then I hope that it can because that was ultimately my purpose in putting this out was to be able to help people who have been on the same path as I have," the former child star told reporters.
Still, she admits that she wouldn't rewrite history if given the chance.
"I wouldn't change a thing because everything had to happen in order for me to learn the lessons that I learned," Lovato said, according to ET. "It was a painful journey. I look back and sometimes I get sad that I had to endure to overcome what I have, but I don't regret anything. And I’m so proud of the person I am today and I'm so proud that people get to see it in this documentary. And I couldn't be more grateful to have someone by my side [director Michael D. Ratner] to help me do this."
Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil premieres March 23 on YouTube.
