Demi Lovato recalls“ Camp Rock ”costar Alyson Stoner finding her 'purging' during filming: 'You were there for me'

The former Disney kids shared their painful memories of child stardom in Lovato's new Hulu doc, "Child Star."

Demi Lovato is opening up about a painful experience she shared with former costar Alyson Stoner.

"I remember one time you followed me into the bathroom" while filming Camp Rock, Lovato, who uses she/they pronouns, recalled in the new Hulu documentary Child Star, which she co-directed with Nicola Marsh. "I had been purging. And you picked up on it because your spidey senses were already in tune with those behaviors, and you followed me in and you talked to me," the performer said.

Lovato and Stoner have both been public about their struggles with eating disorders after enduring the gauntlet of child stardom. "I was really grateful that someone didn't just like shun me in that moment or shame me at all. I felt like you were very understanding," Lovato recalled, remembering the moment two ways: "One I was like, 'Oh my God, somebody knows, f---.' But two, I was really grateful that you were there for me."

Related: Demi Lovato and Alyson Stoner reflect on viral 'She's really good!' Camp Rock meme: 'That's what you played?!'

Stoner, who uses they/them pronouns, recalled the moment instantly, cosigning Lovato's feeling of gratitude. "I felt that support mutually, and feeling like we know that what we're dealing with at the surface level is just one part of the story of what we're going through each day," they said.

Child Star is the latest release dealing with the dark revelations of former child actors, a phenomenon kicked off by the release of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV in April. But Lovato has been sharing her experiences since 2012, with the release of her first documentary, Demi Lovato: Stay Strong (2012). She followed that up with Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated (2017) and Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil (2021), and for Child Star, pulled in an all-star cast of former child and young adult actors to share their experiences, including Drew Barrymore, Kenan Thompson, Christina Ricci, Jojo Siwa, and Raven-Symoné.

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Related: Drew Barrymore and Demi Lovato reflect on being given 'substances' as children: 'It's unfathomable'

Lovato and Stoner costarred alongside the Jonas Brothers in Camp Rock and its sequel, 2010's Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. Between production on the two films, Lovato says her career "exploded," leading to a different "power dynamic and a shift" in on-set treatment.

The pair grew close during production on the first film, but Stoner says that by 2010 "we had lost that thread of trust, we had lost that closeness, it didn't seem maybe like you wanted to be reached either at that point." Stoner compared working with Lovato to "walking on eggshells."

Agreeing to appear in Child Actor required a reconciliation between the stars, whose relationship had grown to a complete standstill in the nearly 15 years since. In a recent Hollywood Reporter cover story on Lovato, Stoner expressed their "concern" that Lovato's doc might "fall under the umbrella of sensationalized E! True Hollywood stories that then actually perpetuated what I call the 'toddler-to-train wreck pipeline.'"

Related: Christina Ricci and Demi Lovato reveal how they hid booze on set as teenagers

Lovato apologizes to Stoner in Child Star, saying she's "genuinely so sorry" for "any stress or any walking on eggshells, any hurt feelings." The two cried together, affirmed one another, and proceeded to bond over what Lovato called the "self esteem and self confidence issues" they both left their child star years with.

"The Camp Rock press junket in Europe was a really really dark time for me with my eating disorder," Stoner said. "I remember specifically feeling terrified of my appearance and being in very very very obsessive behaviors before the press started."

"I was in a coveted position that millions of people would trade me in a heartbeat," Lovato agreed, yet felt "like I was taking it for granted. But really I was just a teenager that was struggling."

Related: Christina Ricci says Cher protected her on Mermaids set: 'She never wanted me to feel insecure'

Lovato's documentary takes pains to show that the assembled cast of former child stars aren't just testaments to the ravages of early-in-life stardom, but to the ability to endure, survive, and ultimately thrive.

Child Star is streaming now on Hulu.

If you or someone you know is battling an eating disorder, please contact the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) at 1-800-931-2237 or go to NationalEatingDisorders.org.

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