Princewill Pius
During the virtual call, former Sonny With a Chance costar Allisyn Ashley Arm kicked off the conversation by asking her old castmates what they had been up to since the Disney show wrapped in 2011. In an honest but winsome move, Lovato harnessed her agency and took an upfront approach. “I went to rehab,” the singer joked. “Several times.”
Her unflinching, but witty response led her fellow Sonny grads to praise her watersheds from her recent comeback — namely her rendition of the national anthem at the 2020 Super Bowl and knockout performance at the Grammys that January. Subsequently, they had a candid conversation about how Lovato was able to work through her mental health issues to make that comeback in the first place.
While Lovato, who played the titular Sonny in her 2009 breakout role, cited one particular person as her north star through addiction and illness: former actor Tiffany Thornton, who played Lovato’s rival-turned-best-friend Tawni Hart. The reason? Lovato saw — and continues to see — Thornton as an example of a person who, as a contemporary, knows the exact same kind of pressures placed particularly on women in the entertainment industry.
“When I went away to treatment for the first time, you were my biggest inspiration coming out of it because you dealt with all of those pressures of being a woman on TV,” Lovato confided during the virtual chat.
Written by: Nicki
