Demi Lovato cites 'daddy issues' as reason for 'gross' relationship with That 70s Show actor
Demi Lovato opened up on Howard Stern about how they believe their relationships with older men like That 70s Show Wilmer Valderrama, has to do with their 'daddy issues'
Demi Lovato has a song titled Daddy Issues, and they recently opened up about how the titular problems affected their love life.
Appearing on the Howard Stern Show on Monday, the singer, who uses they/them/she/her pronouns, opened up about their previous romantic relationships. And they seem to have noticed a trend among them. "I think what I went through is that I had a phase of dating older men and dating older guys," they said, "I went through a phase when I was attracted to older guys because of my daddy issues, obviously.”
Demi had a strained relationship with their late father, Patrick Lovato. They've stated previously that they had no interest in forming a relationship with him after their parents divorced, but the two reconciled slightly before his death in 2022 from cancer.
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One of the Confident singer's famous age-gap relationships was with That 70s Show actor Wilmer Valderrama. The two reportedly started dating when they were 18 and he was 29 from 2010 to 2016. Their song 29 is rumoured to be about this relationship, with lyrics in it saying: "Finally 29, funny just like you were at the time. Thought it was a teenage dream, just a fantasy but it was yours it wasn't mine."
They said to Howard on his show: "For me, I was a teenager. And so to me, that’s gross. If you are 50 and 60, you’re fine. Even 30 and 40, that’s not gross at all. But, I think, that when you’re in those development years, you should absolutely not be with somebody that is older than you by that much. It’s just unhealthy and toxic.”
Demi has now moved on from her time dating significantly older men, and is now in a relationship with Jordan Lutes, who's only 32 years old to their 31. The two met when Demi was working on her last album, Holy Fvck, and the Canadian songwriter co-wrote some of their songs.
"He came in to write on one of my sessions and I was in the studio and was immediately attracted to him," they remembered, glad to be in a better place romantically. They added: "I texted my friends on the side and was like, ‘He’s so hot!’ Now I’m at a place where I’m in an amazing relationship and my boyfriend is a year older than me. We’re growing together and it feels so healthy."
This isn't the first time Demi spoke about younger girls dating older men. Last August, she appeared on the podcast Call Her Daddy and had a warning for young fans. They said: "If you’re a young girl and you think that it’s sexy or fun to date older men, it’s not OK unless you’re of age."
Demi recently appeared at MTV's Video Music Awards Tuesday night, where they performed a melody of their hits as "rock versions," as they're re-recording some of their songs with an edgier rock-heavy sound for an album out on Friday.
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