Demi Lovato: I Was Suicidal While Appearing on Barney

At just 7 years old, she reveals
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 1, 2013 9:31 AM CDT
Demi Lovato: I Was Suicidal While Appearing on Barney
Demi Lovato performs on ABC's "Good Morning America," Friday, June 28, 2013, in New York.   (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Demi Lovato was just 7 years old when she started appearing on Barney & Friends, but already she was battling depression. "At the time, I was just so grateful to be on TV, but I was also really struggling," says Lovato in the upcoming issue of Cosmopolitan. "Looking back, there was a connection, probably between any kid who's ever sang that song to Barney, a little place in a child's heart, a void, that could be filled. And maybe Barney fills it. Even before Barney, I was suicidal. I was 7." The 20-year-old went on to struggle with bulimia and self-harm as a teen.

Lovato's estranged father Patrick died from cancer June 22, and she also recently eulogized him on Twitter, Radar reports. "Today I put my Daddy to rest.... hardest thing I've ever done," she wrote Saturday night. "There's an overwhelming sense of peace knowing my dad is no longer battling his demons anymore and that makes me so happy." (More Demi Lovato stories.)

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