Demi Lovato reflects on being in inappropriate relationships with adult men as a teenager

Demi Lovato has spoken about her previous relationships, revealing she had reflected on one particular relationship when she was just a teenager, but was dating an older man.

The star appeared on Keke Palmer's podcast, Baby, This Is Keke Palmer, where they chatted about being child stars and the impact it has had on their lives.

Lovato, who first appeared on the children's TV show Barney & Friends in 2002, before going on to star in Disney's As the Bell Rings and later Camp Rock, said being worked like an adult made her want to behave like one, which ultimately led to some bad choices.

"For me I actually was like, I had this mantra that was like, 'if you're going to work me like an adult, I'm going to party like an adult,'" she told Palmer.

The pair bonded over both dating older men as teens (Baby, This Is Keke Palmer/YouTube)

"And I got into some bad stuff at a young age and that's when I started self-medicating. I wish that, you know, I had stayed more focused."

Now 33, Lovato admitted she felt her live 'would have gone in a different direction,' and she wouldn't have struggled with substance abuse as much, but she believes 'everything happens for a reason.'

"I'm sitting here in this state of mind today, like, grateful for everything that I've been through," she said. "It was really challenging. There wasn't a lot of time for play, but when I did, I played pretty hard."

While reminiscing on life as a young star, Lovato and Palmer both spoke about their dating lives, as both of them found themselves dating much older men while teenagers.

Demi Lovato and Wilmer Valderrama had a 12 year age gap (John Shearer/Getty Images)

Palmer, who started appearing in films as a child, said: "I feel like people don't understand that that's what we was dealing with, you know? I found myself dating. I'm 15. Why is my boyfriend 20?"

Lovato responded: "Why was my boyfriend 30? You know what I’m saying?"

Both women agreed they struggled to find people their own age who understand what life was like, with the Camp Rock star adding: "But then you look back in hindsight. When I turned 30, I was like, that's not okay."

Lovato appears to be referring to her relationship with actor Wilmer Valderrama, who she officially started dating when she was 18 and 30.

The singer previously described experiencing love at first sight when she first met Valderrama when she was just 17 years old.

The pair were together for six years (Jeff Vespa/Getty Images for Topshop Topman)

“[When] I laid eyes on him for the first time, I was in hair and makeup and he came in and sat down and I was like ‘I love this man’ and ‘I have to have him,'" she recalled in her 2017 documentary, Simply Complicated. “But I was only 17, so he was like, ‘Get away from me.'

"After I turned 18, we began dating. I think it was love at first sight, and I don’t really believe in that, but I believe that it happened."

Palmer went on to talk about the moment she released she was being taken advantage of by the older people in her life, prompting Lovato to say: "Especially if you’re an older soul, too. Especially if you’re mature for your age."