Unhealthy obsessions. Dysphoria and dysmorphia. For these stars,
the Disney Channel wasn't the happiest place on earth.
In the 2000s, Christy Carlson Romano was a fixture of the Disney Channel. She starred in
the sitcom "Even Stevens," voiced the titular role in the animated series "Kim Possible,"
and popped up in movies like "Cadet Kelly" and "The Cutting Edge: Going for the Gold."
Given all of her success with the Disney Channel, one might assume Romano is more
than financially comfortable. However, like so many child stars before her,
her moolah matters got messy. In a YouTube video titled "How I Lost All My Money," Romano
shared that she never really learned how to manage her own money when she was a kid,
and when she finally gained full control of her own finances, she headed to college.
"That was smart — except that I left school about a year and a half in,
and then I had all this money at my disposal. I was never told how much money I was making,
money didn't have a purpose for me."
"I didn't really know what it was; I just knew that I had it,
and I didn't care about it — that's a problem."
The Disney Channel alum shared that she wishes she learned to invest at
an early age and didn't spend so much on things like cars and designer clothes.
"I was using buying things and money as a weapon."
Romano's money woes didn't stop there. In a separate YouTube video,
she said psychics apparently swindled nearly $100,000 from her.
Demi Lovato has always been an open book, and she's used her platform to
shine a light on her own struggles with eating disorders, self-harm, and addiction. In 2018,
Lovato relapsed and nearly died from an overdose. In late December 2021, she returned to rehab
and released her album "Holy Fvck" a few months later. In 2022, Lovato said on "The Tonight Show",
"After going through even more stuff last year, I came out of treatment again, and I
realized I really want to do this for myself, and I want to make the best album possible."
"The easiest way to do something the most authentic is to do it clean and sober."
In her documentary "Dancing With The Devil," Lovato touched on many dark memories from her
Disney days. She spoke about using drugs and alcohol as a teen and how she hid it from those
around her. She also shared that she was raped by a fellow Disney actor when she was 15 years old.
"We were hooking up but I said, 'hey, this is not going any farther, I'm a virgin and
I don't want to lose it this way.' And that didn't matter to them, they did it anyways."
Lovato, who wore a purity ring at the time, immediately felt shame.
She recalled telling people about the assault but nothing came from it.
"They never got taken out of the movie they were in."
Raven-Symoné was a TV veteran long before "That's So Raven," "Zenon: Girl of the
21st Century," and "The Cheetah Girls." A child star who got her start on "The Cosby Show," she
soon became a staple of the Disney Channel. And while her career sounds like a dream come true,
things were not always easy behind the scenes. As she said to Insider,
"When you're in the industry and in front of millions of people whose livelihoods
depend on your work and engagement, things can get a little strenuous."
As if that wasn't enough pressure to grapple with, Raven told Insider that when she was still a teen,
her clothes and weight were under constant scrutiny. And in OWN's documentary "Light
Girls," she shared that a crew member once asked her to no longer visit tanning beds,
and not because he was worried about the health risks.
"Raven, I need you to stop tanning. You're
getting too dark and we have to relight the whole entire show."
What's more, Raven feared she could never come out publicly. In the docuseries "It
Got Better," she spoke about coming to terms with her sexuality at the age of 12
but keeping it hidden because she feared the backlash would destroy her career.
"I never thought I would come out because my personal life didn't
matter. It was only what was supposed to be sold as, you know, the Raven-Symoné brand."
She came out on Twitter in 2013.
Long before "Sucker," the Jonas Brothers were Disney Channel stars. They had hit songs,
a blockbuster 3D movie, a sitcom, and the hearts of young girls everywhere. When they
were still associated with Disney, the brothers maintained a squeaky-clean image — but apparently,
they didn't necessarily like everything that went along with that image. In an op-ed for Vulture,
Joe Jonas revisited his past Disney fame and revealed secrets about their time on the network.
While filming their show "Jonas," the second-eldest Jonas brother had to stay
clean-shaven, much to his chagrin. He and his brothers also weren't super into the show,
but they felt like their hands were tied. He wrote,
"We went along with it at the time, because we thought Disney was our only real shot,
and we were terrified that it could all be taken away from us at any moment. Being a part
of the Disney thing for so long will make you not want to be this perfect little puppet forever."
Jonas also shared with Vulture that he felt somewhat obligated to keep his short-lived
relationship with "Camp Rock" co-star Demi Lovato going because it made for
good publicity. Behind the scenes, Lovato was dealing with addiction,
but the Disney stars tried to keep up appearances for the sake of their careers. He said,
"I had a brand to protect. It was an insane situation to be in."
Bella Thorne
Bella Thorne played one of the two main characters on the Disney comedy series
"Shake It Up." Despite Thorne and her co-star Zendaya finding success on and off the show,
Thorne looks back at her Disney Channel days with sadness.
In an interview with ABC News' "Nightline," she said she only pursued acting due to her
family's financial problems following her father's death.
"Here you have got a single mom with four kids who just lost her husband trying to
have a roof over your head."
Acting was a way to support her struggling family. When Thorne joined "Shake It Up"
at age 12, she felt a significant amount of pressure to maintain a certain image,
telling Harper's Bazaar she was even asked to change her natural speaking voice. She said,
"I was just a puppet. I wasn't allowed to make my own decisions or think for myself in any way."
The "Famous in Love" alum also recalled being reprimanded by
Disney executives for posting a photo of herself wearing a bikini, saying,
"My mom was so scared after that, for them firing us and us losing our house,
so it was kind of like, 'Don't be yourself, just be good.'"
After she shot to fame thanks to the Disney Channel series "Lizzie McGuire," Hilary Duff
dealt with insecurity and body issues. In an interview with Women's Health Australia, the
actor shared that her eating disorder stemmed from being a young girl in the industry. She explained,
"Because of my career path, I can't help but be like,
'I am on camera and actresses are skinny. It was horrifying."
She later revealed to Cosmopolitan UK that she experienced bullying as a young
girl which further fueled her eating disorder. Those past struggles make
her more committed to now maintaining body positivity and focusing on healthy habits.
After giving birth to her first child, the star looked back on all of the years she
spent being critical of her body when she was a teenager. She told Health,
"I was totally obsessed with everything I put in my mouth. I was way too skinny. Not cute. And my
body wasn't that healthy—my hands would cramp up a lot because I wasn't getting the nutrition
I needed. That constant pressure of wanting something different than I had? I regret that."
Though Dove Cameron did not make her acting debut on Disney Channel,
her acting career most certainly took off on Disney Channel. She starred in the hit
series "Liv and Maddie" and played a key role in Disney franchise "Descendants."
She is without a doubt a Disney Channel star who has not only found success as an
actor but as a pop singer, but Cameron still has struggled to believe she fit in with her peers.
She told the Los Angeles Times in 2022,
"I never looked at Miley or Demi or Selena or Zendaya or Bella or anybody — Hilary
Duff or anybody that came before me — I never looked at them and thought,
you and me — same. I had huge impostor syndrome."
The singer and actor has even been open about the dysphoria she has
felt regarding her identity. In a May 2022 Instagram post,
she shared photos of herself in tears and detailed her recent struggles. She wrote,
"I've been struggling lately with the concept of self, my inner relationship to who I know
myself to be and my outer perceivable self who I feel I have never known but other people seem
to. I've been covering mirrors lately, I've been feeling wrong in clothing that used to
make me feel beautiful lately, sometimes terrorized by my identity and image."
Cameron came out as queer in 2020, telling Gay Times,
"My coming out to my fans was life-changing for me."
When Miley Cyrus auditioned for the lead role on "Hannah Montana," she was just 11
years old. And not before long, she was one of the biggest TV stars and
one of the biggest pop stars — she truly got the best of both worlds.
On the flip side, Cyrus also had to deal with the pitfalls that come with celebrity at an
early age. In a 2015 chat with Marie Claire, the Disney Channel alum opened up about the
ways in which she internalized unrealistic beauty standards when she was still a kid. She said,
"From the time I was 11, it was, 'You're a pop star! That means you have to be blonde,
and you have to have long hair, and you have to put on some glittery tight thing."
She noted she began struggling with body dysmorphia when she was working on the
Disney show. What's more, she started to worry about who she would be without
"Hannah Montana" when the series inevitably came to an end. In 2014, she told Elle,
"[T]he thing that gave me the most anxiety was not knowing what to do
with myself when Disney wasn't there to carry me anymore or if I didn't
have [Liam Hemsworth]. And now I'm free of both of those things, and I'm fine."
On the hit show "Wizards of Waverly Place,"
Selena Gomez certainly brought the magic as she played a young wizard.
Though she successfully transitioned from a Disney Channel teen star to a respected actor and singer,
Gomez has since revealed how much she struggled during her Disney days. In her 2022 documentary
"My Mind & Me," Gomez gave fans an inside look at her raw emotions. In one scene,
a frustrated Gomez broke down in tears following an interview that
rubbed her the wrong way. She continued by saying she felt she was a product.
"It was, like, making me angry."
"You know what it is? It made me feel like Disney. It's a trigger. I've spent years,
years of my life trying to not be that again."
Gomez has touched on her complicated feelings
about Disney before. She told reporters in 2021, per Complex,
"I signed my life away to Disney at a very young age and I didn't know what I was doing."
While she is thankful for the success and opportunities Disney brought her,
she told The New York Times in 2015 that she felt like she had to live up to a "good girl" image.
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the
Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness
helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.