Demi Lovato’s younger sister, Madison De La Garza, opened up about her sobriety in a new interview with MY! News.
The 30-year-old former Disney star’s sister, 21, said that 248 days into her clean lifestyle, she feels ‘free’.
“The world seems lighter and more colorful,” he explained in the sit-down chat, which was recorded on March 15.
De La Garza, who also goes by the nickname Madi, noted that before her “recovery journey,” drugs were her “best friend.”
And the Pink Elephant The filmmaker credited his pop star sister with inspiring him to share his story.
Candid: Demi Lovato’s younger sister Madison De La Garza opened up about her sobriety in a new interview with E! News
She has never looked better! This week, Madison dazzled in an emerald blue dress and coat.
“I’ve been through a lot in the past year that made me want to stay in bed, made me want to hide from the world,” the former Desperate Housewives actress explained.
Madison’s decision to get sober came as she saw her habits affect her personal relationships, namely her connection to her 60-year-old mother Dianna De La Garza.
‘My best friend was substances and they disconnected me from those around me.
“When I realized that it started to affect my relationship not only with my friends, but specifically with my mother, that’s when I knew I had to make a change,” she told the outlet.
Life has already been easier for the star since he turned the page just a few months ago.
“I just took a trip to New York and I wasn’t panicking because I was strapped to a substance,” she explained.
“I wasn’t thinking, ‘Oh, what if I can’t use this? What if I don’t have my crutch?'” she described.
Reflecting on Demi’s path to sobriety, Madi added: “I think most of what I learned from her I watched through her experience and what she did.”
New chapter: 30-year-old former Disney star’s sister, 21, said 248 days into her clean lifestyle, she feels ‘free’
The cheerleader gushed about Lovato as she said, “Obviously she gives me a lot of good sisterly advice, but I think it’s more powerful to see her in action and especially to see her tell her story.”
“I started sharing my personal story and my struggles with addiction and my journey and recovery. I would never, never, never have done that if it wasn’t for her.
“I think his honesty, his bravery and being 100% honest and open and being an open book, I think that’s what drives me.”
Not shy about documenting her struggles and triumphs, Demi has checked into rehab multiple times since 2010.
De La Garza said that her sister, the singer, has been an example for me. Now I can be that example for other people, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m thankful for that.
In February 2021, Demi revealed that she had “three strokes, a heart attack, and now she has brain damage” as a result of a near-fatal drug overdose in 2018.
In her revealing documentary Dances with the Devil, the “Cool For The Summer” singer opened up about the effect the overdose had on her life.
‘I was left with brain damage, and I still deal with the effects of that today. I don’t drive a car because I have blind spots in my vision,” the beauty shared.
Demi also noted that “for a long time I had a really hard time reading,” so it was “a big problem when I was able to read a book, like two months later because my vision was so blurry.”
Flashback: The sisters attended the Oceans premiere in Hollywood, California in 2010
He is! The interview comes weeks after Madison took to TikTok to participate in the popular trend in which the 2023 version of a person tells their ‘ancestors’ something that would surprise or excite them.
Madison used the healthy trend to tell her ancestors about her sobriety milestone.
She captioned the video: “I know you guys are proud of #recoveryispossible.”
Many flooded in the comments to congratulate her on the achievement, with one asking her what substance she had stopped using.
The beauty replied, “I haven’t shared my full story yet for privacy reasons, I hope everyone can respect that.”
Sibling love: Protective big sister planted a kiss on her little sister’s cheek in 2009
