Demi Lovato lied to cover up eating disorder

Demi Lovato lied to friends and colleagues and learned to "control and manipulate" them in a desperate bid to cover up her eating disorder.

The teenage singer/actress checked into rehab last year (10) to tackle a number of personal issues, including bipolar disorder and self-harming, as well as her problems with food.

She is now well again, and has revealed the lengths she went to as she struggled to keep her eating disorder secret.

Lovato admits she would lie to colleagues on the set of her Disney TV show Sonny With a Chance so they wouldn't realise she was starving herself.

She tells the Los Angeles Times, "I had learned how to control and manipulate everyone around me into believing that I was OK. I'd go to work on my TV show and, instead of getting lunch, I would go get my nails done or go tan or nap or something... No one was grilling me."

Lovato now has to check in with a friend or colleague after every meal to make sure she is eating properly, and even though she knows the process is helping her, she can't help but feel intimidated.

The actress adds, "Sometimes, I still think to this day, 'I wish I wasn't so watched'."