‘It Seemed Normal In My Mind’: Demi Lovato And Keke Palmer Reflect On Dating Adult Men As Teens

Jazmin Tolliver Wed, March 4, 2026 at 2:06 AM UTC

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Demi Lovato and Keke Palmer are reflecting on dating adult men as teenagers while facing “a lot of pressure” and struggles as young actors on networks like Disney Channel and Nickelodeon.

On Tuesday’s episode of “Baby, This is Keke Palmer,” the two stars opened up about their experiences while discussing the stress they went through helming major shows like Lovato’s “Sonny With A Chance” and Palmer’s “True Jackson, VP” as teens.

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“It was really challenging. There wasn’t a lot of time for play, but when I did, I played pretty hard,” Lovato said after getting candid about “self-medicating” during the arduous time.

“I mean, that’s very [expletive],” Palmer replied. “I know we don’t want any of the drama of it, but I feel like people don’t understand that that’s what we was dealing with. You know, I found myself dating — I’m 15. Why is my boyfriend 20?”

Lovato interjected, “Uh, why was my boyfriend 30? You know what I’m saying?”

“Girl! ****!” Palmer exclaimed. “That is real. We was trying to find outlets, though. A way to process.”

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Both the “Heart Attack” singer, now 33, and Palmer, now 32, went on to lament that “nobody our age could understand” at the time the intricacies of what they and other teen stars were dealing with in the spotlight.

“But then when you look back in hindsight — when I turned 30, I was like, ‘That’s not OK,’” Lovato added.

The “One of Them Days” leading lady told Lovato that it wasn’t until she reached the age of the adults she used to associate with that she realized she was being exploited.

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Demi Lovato and Keke Palmer during their wide-ranging interview on Mar. 3, 2026 on Palmer's “Baby, This is Keke Palmer" podcast. Youtube.

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“The moment when you realize and you get the age that a lot of people that were around you and doing stuff, it’s almost a mental break that can happen,” she shared. “Because you realize: ‘You were taking advantage of [me]. Oh, I was being exploited.’ That was very difficult for me.”

Palmer recalled making sense of the age gap in her early relationship because of the nature of her job.

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“At 15, I’m thinking, ‘My boyfriend’s older because I’m doing an older job. And I’m doing a bunch of things, and this is the way that it is,’” she explained. “And it seemed normal in my mind.”

Lovato interjected to add: “Especially if you’re an older soul, too. Especially if you’re mature for your age.”

Palmer then praised former Disney star Hilary Duff for releasing the vulnerable tune “Mature,” in which she reflected on an inappropriate relationship she had with an older man during her youth.

“It’s like, ‘Oh, ****, we all had the same **** life,’” Palmer said. “Where people kept telling us, ‘You’re so mature for your age.’”

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Lovato gushed over Duff’s song before sharing that she released something similar. “I also wrote a song about that. It’s called ’29,′ and when you listen to it, I think you’ll be able to relate to it.”

Watch the “Baby, This is Keke Palmer” episode below.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”