Demi Lovato Wishes She Hadn’t Been A Child Star: ‘I Feel Like I’ve Lived A Lot Longer Than I Actually Have’

Demi Lovato may be on top of her game now, debuting her new single, “Instruction,” and collaborating with Kate Hudson on a new line of signature Fabletics products, but she now reveals that life in the spotlight wasn’t always so promising. In a new interview, Lovato looks back on her days as a child star with mixed feelings of gratitude and remorse.

Demi Lovato Wishes She Had Waited A Few More Years

According to Variety, Demi Lovato admitted that, while she’s grateful for her successes in acting as a child, she does wish she hadn’t started working at such a young age. At 7-years-old, Lovato started her acting career on Barney & Friends in 2002, only to move on to doing film work and another series, As the Bell Rings, in the span of just a few years. Demi says that acting so young came with its own set of challenges.

Lovato adds that growing up under the spotlight made it more difficult to transition into an adult mainstream artist. She says, after being directed into everyone else’s vision of her through her younger acting years, she struggled to find herself as an adult.

“It’s definitely has been difficult, but it’s been a learning experience,” says Ms. Lovato. “I am still figuring out who I am every day.”

“I’m At A Turning Point,” Says Demi Lovato

People shares that Demi appeared at Cannes Lions as a part of a YouTube presentation with moderator Susan Daniels. Lovato is appearing in a special docuseries for YouTube’s original programming, entitled Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated.

Telling the audience that as she prepares to turn 25, she feels like she’s reached a turning point in her life, Lovato earned chuckles and giggles from the crowd, but it wasn’t meant to be a punchline. Lovato, who recently shared her success in overcoming depression and drug addiction, continued by telling the crowd that she never expected her success as an entertainer to reach such a high level or to last this long.

Just five years ago, Demi says she anticipated getting married, settling down, and starting a family. She never expected to turn her years of child acting into a thriving music career.

Looking forward at the next five years, Demi says she loves making music and plans to continue with her songwriting and touring, but she also hints that there’s more she wants to do with her life.

“I want to dive back into acting at some point,” Demi Lovato says.

[Featured Image by Jesse Grant/Getty Images]