Demi Lovato Reflects On Dating Older Men and Blames ‘Daddy Issues’ – Hollywood Life
Demi Lovato appeared to reference her ex-boyfriend Wilmer Valderrama, 43, during an interview on The Howard Stern Show on Monday, Sep. 11. The Revamped singer, 31, gushed about her current boyfriend Jute$, 32, but she opened up about how she thought that dating older men when she was younger was “gross” in retrospect, seemingly shading her ex. Demi admitted that dealing with “daddy issues” was a big part of why she dated older men when she was younger.
Before speaking about Jute$, Demi admitted that she felt like her new relationship seems to show that she’s made progress in dealing with daddy issues. “I had a phase of dating older men and dating older guys, because of my daddy issues, obviously,” she said. “I’m at a place where I’m in an amazing relationship, and my boyfriend is a year older than me, and we’re growing together, and it feels so healthy.
At another point in the interview, Demi revealed that she’s a little disgusted thinking back on her past relationships. “I can say with confidence that my daddy issues aren’t anything that are [sic] inside of me anymore, and I think there are a few signs to that. I’m with a partner that is my age, essentially. I look back on the past, and think, ‘That’s gross,’” she said.
Demi had an on-and-off relationship with the That 70s Show alum beginning in 2010. She was 18 at the time, and he was 29. Fans have speculated that Demi’s 2022 track “29” was inspired by the pair’s age gap. While Demi has not directly spoken about her relationship with Wilmer in recent years, this isn’t the first time that they have spoken out against dating older men. “If you’re a young girl and you think that it’s sexy or fun to date older men, it’s not okay unless you’re of age,” Demi said in an August 2022 episode of Call Her Daddy.
Back in 2020, Demi revealed that she hadn’t spoken with Wilmer “in a long time” in a Harper’s Bazaar profile. Despite saying that she didn’t talk to him, she did say, “’m really happy for him and I wish him nothing but the best,” in reference to his engagement to Amanda Pacheco.
