Demi Lovato Says She's an 'Introvert,' Reveals How She Found 'Peace' with Fiancé (Exclusive)

The actress and singer will make her directorial debut with new documentary 'Child Star' on Hulu Sept. 17

Demi Lovato is opening up about what they find really important in life.

The Disney Channel alum, 32, (who uses she/they pronouns) spoke to PEOPLE to discuss her new documentary Child Star (out Sept. 17 on Hulu), and she says it's the people in her life that sustain her the most.

"What makes me happy and brings me peace now are the relationships in my life. I'm an introvert, but I do love to co-regulate with people that are really important to me," says Lovato, who will make her directorial debut with the documentary.

"First and foremost, my fiancé, but my best friends, my family, my dogs... I value and I cherish love so much in my life. It means more to me than anything because that's really truly what life is about: love," she says.

Lovato's fiancé is Canadian songwriter Jordan 'Jutes' Lutes. The couple — who first went public with their romance in August 2022 — got engaged in December 2023.

They originally met when they co-wrote her song "Substance," and Lutes also shares writing credits on Lovato's tracks "Happy Ending" and "City of Angels," all off her eighth album Holy Fvck.

"I try to spend as much time with the people that are important to me as I can because careers and experiences, those are fleeting, but relationships and family and friends, those relationships are here to stay. It's all about connection and spending time with loved ones," Lovato tells PEOPLE.

Related: Jutes Says He 'Can't Wait to Marry' Demi Lovato in Celebratory Note for Fiancée's 32nd Birthday: 'Love You'

Child Star, which features footage of Lovato, Drew Barrymore, JoJo Siwa, Kenan Thompson, Raven-Symoné, Christina Ricci and Alyson Stoner from past and present as they reflect being thrust into the spotlight at a young age, also chronicles Lovato's journey after realizing that "my career is completely separate from my identity."

"It was entangled and enmeshed when I was younger because my brand was such a huge part of who I was at the time. I confused the two, and I was so young that I wasn't able to separate the difference between what my brand was and who I was as a person," she says now. "But as I've gotten older... knowing how to differentiate the two has been one of the biggest lessons that I've learned in my life, and I no longer value my success or equate my success with self-worth."

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Sitting down with Barrymore and Ricci, in particular, also helped inform Lovato's view of child stardom, as the two actresses came of age during a different time.

"[Drew] has so much wisdom and experience with being in the public eye for so long. I feel like I learned so much from her, but what was interesting was talking to her about her experience pre-camera phones and pre-social media. There was more anonymity. Christina Ricci and Drew Barrymore, they had a different experience, and getting to talk to them about that was really interesting," she says.

Related: Demi Lovato 'Chased' Child Stardom Because of 'Daddy Issues' and to 'Get the Love from My Birth Dad That I Didn't Have'

Still, Lovato has reconciled her past and her present, and she says she's "been very, very honest and I've demonstrated that vulnerability throughout my life. I've shared a lot with people, and I've realized that my experiences don't define me."

For more on Demi Lovato, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.

Child Star is directed by Lovato and Marsh and is produced by Lovato and Michael D. Ratner, Scott Ratner, Miranda Sherman, and Kfir Goldberg for OBB Pictures. It premieres on Hulu on Sept. 17.

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