Demi Lovato will star in a new diet-related comedy series

Rejoice, Demi Lovato fans, because the performer is making her television comeback. According to several industry publications, the 28-year-old will be the face of a new NBC comedy.

Hungry is a single camera comedy (so no live studio audience) that explores the stories and relationships of people within a food issues group. According to the official logline, these folks “look for love, success and that one thing in the refrigerator that will make it all better.” NBC revealed on January 25 that it has agreed to a “put pilot” of the potential series, which means it has to air the first episode in some way, shape or form. Otherwise the company will face a hefty penalty. Typically, series that film under such circumstances have a pretty good shot at making it to series.

It sounds like this subject material could be near and dear to Lovato, who opened up last spring about her struggles with an eating disorder (along with bipolar disorder and substance abuse). “My eating disorder kept me from going back to acting for years,” Lovato told Harper’s Bazaar for their May 2020 issue. “But I finally came to a place with my body where I thought, ‘Why am I going to let this stop me when it’s just my shell?’ ” she added. “I’ve stopped letting my weight control my life.”

So far no other cast members have joined Hungry, although the production team is firmly in place. That includes Lovato and Sean Hayes (Will & Grace), along with Lovato’s manager, Scooter Braun, and Todd Milliner, James Shin and Scott Manson. Suzanne Martin, who also wrote for Will & Grace and Hot in Cleveland, writes the pilot, and is expected to be the showrunner should things move forward.

This will be the first regular series role for Lovato in years, although she is also the subject of the upcoming YouTube Originals doc series Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil. That show debuts at the SXSW festival, which runs from March 16-20 this year.

Lovato grew up on TV. As early as 2002 she starred in Barney and Friends (alongside Selena Gomez), and of course she also starred in Disney projects like Camp Rock and Sonny with a Chance. Add in appearances on shows like Prison Break, Grey’s Anatomy, Glee and the Will & Grace reboot, and she’s basically a TV vet—despite largely being known for her equally impressive singing career.  

In the interview with Harper’s Bazaar Lovato also opened up about the ways being a child star impacted her, revealing that she was happy for the opportunities but they also led to a decline in her mental health. “I’m grateful for the opportunities that I got. Do I wish that I’d had more downtime? Yes. I think when you are a teenager and you’re given your big break, you’ll do anything to make it happen,” she revealed. “I do feel that a lot of the way some of my life was handled and lived led to me kind of having a bit of a downfall, just because I was so overworked and I wasn’t dedicating enough time to my mental health or my personal life.”

Best of luck to Lovato on the new gig.

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