It is hard to believe it is almost two decades since Camp Rock debuted on Disney Channel back in 2008.
A whopping 8.9million viewers tuned in on the night of its premiere, making it the third highest viewed Disney Channel Original Movie at the time.
The show propelled Demi Lovato and The Jonas Brothers to the dizzying heights of Disney stardom and made them huge names.
And now the franchise is back with the stars hitting the red carpet premiere for Camp Rock 3 on Tuesday night and Demi finally confirming her character Mitchie Torres is back.
With Demi and The Jonas Brothers acting as executive producers, the third instalment sees Camp Rock open once again as the new talent compete for a spot as the opening act of band Connect 3 (aka the Jonas Brothers).
However while the film was a hit with the viewers, behind the scenes all wasn’t so rosy and Demi in particular was battling addiction struggles and eating disorders.
The curse of Camp Rock: How the Demi Lovato and The Jonas Brothers overcame addiction, eating disorders and band tensions as the stars reunite at Camp Rock 3 premiere (pictured)
A whopping 8.9million viewers tuned in on the night of its premiere, making it the third highest viewed Disney Channel Original Movie at the time (pictured in the original in 2008)
The third instalment sees Camp Rock open once again as the new talent compete for a spot as the opening act of band Connect 3 (pictured stars Malachi Barton and Liamani Segura)
Demi Lovato
Demi rose to prominence playing Mitchie in the highly rated TV movie musicals, Camp Rock in 2008 and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam two years later.
The former movie soundtrack also featured her debut single This Is Me, which peaked at number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100.
The star has spoken openly about her battles with mental health and her stints in rehab, and has been on the path to recovery after being hospitalised following a drug overdose in 2018.
However her struggles began long before that and around the time she was filming the second film she began taking cocaine.
In 2010, the star was diagnosed with bipolar disorder while receiving treatment at Timberline Knolls in Illinois for a nervous breakdown, bulimia, self-harm, and addictions to cocaine and alcohol.
She told The Huffington Post in 2013: ‘I couldn’t go 30 minutes to an hour without cocaine, and I would bring it on airplanes.
‘I would smuggle it basically and just wait until everyone in first class would go to sleep, and I would do it right there.’
Demi was also purging around this time, and recalled one particular time her co-star Alyson caught on.
‘You followed me into the bathroom because I was purging,’ Demi recalled when speaking to Alyson during her documentary. ‘
And you followed me and talked to me, and I was really grateful that no one shunned me or shamed me and you were very understanding.’
After rehab, Lovato moved into a sober-living facility in Los Angeles where she remained for over a year, and she stayed clean until her 2018 relapse and subsequent opioid overdose.
That year Demi took a break from the spotlight after she was rushed to hospital following an overdose after admitting to relapsing on six years of sobriety in the song Sober.
The devastating overdose – which occurred after Demi took heroin that was laced with fentanyl during a night out – left her temporarily blind and with brain damage, and she suffered a heart attack and three strokes while in hospital.
The star has spoken openly about her battles with mental health and her stints in rehab, and has been on the path to recovery after being hospitalised following a drug overdose in 2018 (pictured in Camp Rock 2 in 2009)
The former child star has previously spoken out about her eating disorder and distorted body image perception as well as treatment she underwent
Demi has since completely turned her life around after getting sober and finding love with musician husband Jordan Lutes (pictured in January)
The former child star has previously spoken out about her eating disorder and distorted body image perception as well as treatment she underwent.
She previously revealed how her management would only allow her to eat a watermelon cake for her birthday to encourage weight loss and a slimmer figure.
She later told CBS Sunday Morning: ‘I didn’t control any of my life at that period of time every time I was in a hotel room my phone was taken out of the room so I couldn’t order room service.’
Demi has since completely turned her life around after getting sober and finding love with musician husband Jordan Lutes.
Speaking to Zane Lowe on Apple Music in 2020, she said she spent years trying to ‘chase perfection’ before learning she had to accept that her life would be full of ups and downs.
She explained: ‘I’ve dealt with depression and suicidal ideation since I was seven years old, and that’s something that I’ve been very vocal about.
‘I’ve talked about it for years. And so today, I don’t take it lightly. I easily could have been someone that wasn’t having this interview today. So, I’m grateful that I’ve had the support and the team around me to help me get through this time.
‘And what I just want everyone else to know is that I’ve been there and you can get past it too. It can be very, very dark, but we have to remember that we can’t seek permanent solutions for temporary problems, because life ebbs and flows.
‘And just as happiness can be fleeting, sadness as well. So, we have to hold onto that hope, and we have to just keep fighting and powering through.’
The Jonas Brothers
Brothers Joe, Nick and Kevin were just teenagers when they left their small-town life in New Jersey to begin working on their first studio album in 2005.
By 2007, the group was signed to Disney’s Hollywood Records and they debuted on the US Billboard 200 chart with their track, Year 3000.
They broke out globally after starring in the 2008 Disney Channel movie, Camp Rock, alongside Demi.
The brothers became well known for all wearing purity rings, signifying their intent to stay virgins until they get married.
However the brothers famously fell out in 2013 and refused to speak to each other – each going off to pursue their solo ventures.
Reflecting on the fallout in 2019, Joe said: ‘In 2013, we all wanted to create something on our own and were just trying to force it into what was going on.
‘We were going through the motions, without the heart of it … The way we communicated to each other wasn’t healthy anymore.’
Brothers Joe, Nick and Kevin were just teenagers when they left their small town life in New Jersey to begin working on their first studio album in 2005
However the brothers famously fell out in 2013 and refused to speak to each other – each going off to pursue their solo ventures (pictured last night)
Joe has experienced turmoil in his personal life after a bitter year-long divorce battle with his ex wife Sophie Turner (pictured in 2022)
However after moving on from their differences the band returned to the spotlight, releasing further albums Happiness Begins, The Album and Greetings from Your Hometown in 2019, 2023 and 2025 respectively.
Similarly Joe has experienced turmoil in his personal life after a bitter year-long divorce battle with his ex wife Sophie Turner.
After months of split rumours, Joe filed for divorce from Sophie in September 2023 and their war over custody and money made headlines worldwide until finally settling a year later.
Yet as his personal life faced difficulties, the band embarked on their Five Albums. One Night tour as they celebrated their impressive catalogue of hits.
Last year the threesome returned with their very own Christmas film, A Very Jonas Christmas Movie – which will premiere on Disney + on November 14.
And they are reprising their respective roles as Shane, Nate and Jason Gray in the third Camp Rock instalment.
Alyson Stoner
Yet Demi isn’t the only one who has had a turbulent time since the films as Alyson Stoner has also since opened up about the toll childhood fame took on her mentally and physically.
‘Living in that little box, being a part of that machine—it takes a huge toll on you,’ she said in 2017, reminiscing about her early fame.
‘The competition, narcissism, perfectionism, the pressure, schedule, the traumatizing experiences that we can never talk about because we’re either under contract, or we’ll get shot, or other things will happen to us if we open our mouths.’
Alyson, who was 15 when she filmed Camp Rock, revealed she battled multiple eating disorders while working in showbusiness and was even hospitalised and entered rehab at 17 they got so severe.
In a YouTube video back in 2019 she told fans: ‘I started working in entertainment when I was six years old. Being In the public eye growing up brought a lot of criticism especially about my appearance.
‘We strive to keep this illusion of unattainablilty. But behind the scenes, we’re hurting ourselves to reach that limit.
Alyson Stoner has also since opened up about the toll childhood fame took on her mentally and physically, revealing she battled multiple eating disorders and was even hospitalised
At 17, she admitted herself to rehab after a hospitalisation for eating disorders. She said: ‘I had actually wanted to get help for some time, and my schedule didn’t allow for it’
‘I ended up going to rehab for three different eating disorders: anorexia, exercise bulimia and binge eating. I believe it was just a response to a chaotic and unpredictable environment.’
She revealed that when she was six, she started to develop anxiety that caused heart palpitations, hair loss, and seizures, all due to the industry she was in.
Her anxiety also caused some social issues with kids her own age.
Eventually, it developed into anorexia nervosa, exercise bulimia, and binge-eating disorder – and she got so thin that even casting directors would turn her away and encourage her to work on her health.
She was estimated to be eating less than 700 calories a day, and exercising for two to eight hours every day. She’d keep journals detailing ‘the grams of polyunsaturated fat and added sugar in every bite I ate.’
At 17, she admitted herself to rehab after a hospitalisation for eating disorders.
While she was there, she was also diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, OCD tendencies and alexithymia, a medical condition in which people have an inability to identify and express or describe their feelings. It’s often related to PTSD.
‘I had actually wanted to get help for some time, and my schedule didn’t allow for it,’ she said.
‘So I had already needed hospitalisation, but I had to complete projects. The second that I finished the contract, I told my family that I was going. They knew. Everyone around knew.’
