Demi Lovato says her team used to watch her before photo shoots to stop her from eating and being 'swollen the next day'

• Demi Lovato spoke to Bustle about her previous struggles with an eating disorder and how her previous management team contributed to it.
• "I used to have people watching me the night before a photo shoot to make sure that I didn't binge or eat and be swollen the next day," the singer recalled.
• Lovato, who's now managed by Scooter Braun, said that she no longer prepares for photo shoots or monitors what she eats beforehand.
• The "I Love Me" singer previously spoke about feeling "controlled" by her prior management during an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

Demi Lovato says that her previous team monitored her weight prior to photo shoots.

"I used to have people watching me the night before a photo shoot to make sure that I didn't binge or eat and be swollen the next day," Lovato said in a new cover story for Bustle.

The 27-year-old singer, who's now managed by Scooter Braun, went on to say that that's no longer the case and she doesn't feel restricted.

"It's just a totally different world now," she said. "I don't prepare for photo shoots, even. I can eat Subway for breakfast."

Lovato has been outspoken about her struggles regarding her eating disorder, which partly led to her relapse and near-fatal accidental overdose in 2018.

She also opened up about feeling "controlled" by her prior team, which was led by Phil McIntyre, during an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in March 2020.

After DeGeneres recalled Lovato's team hiding all the sugar backstage and in her dressing room prior to appearances on the talk-show, the singer said: "I lived a life for the past six years that I felt wasn't my own because I struggled really hard with an eating disorder, yes, and that was my primary problem and then it turned into other things."

Lovato went on to say that she felt as though her life was "controlled by so many people around me," noting that the team would remove fruits from her hotel rooms because it had sugar. She also said that they took away her phone so that she wouldn't be able to call room service.

Lovato added that for years, on her birthday, she was given a watermelon shaped into a cake and decorated with fat-free whipped cream. So, when she celebrated her 27th birthday in 2019, under Braun's management, Lovato cried because she was "finally eating cake with a manager that didn't need anything from me and that loved me for who I am and supported my journey."

In her interview with Bustle, the "Stone Cold" singer spoke about the importance of being surrounded by a team that provides a safe space for her to be herself and raise concerns without fear of repercussions.

"The people that are there with me every single day, I have to feel very connected with them and that I can trust them," she said. "That I can be totally vulnerable, transparent, and honest. And if I'm having a panic attack in the middle of a photo shoot or something that I can sit in the dressing room with whomever is there, and they can help me with it."

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• Demi Lovato said she asked for help before her relapse and near-fatal overdose, but her team called her 'selfish' and said she would 'ruin things'
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