Demi Lovato Set to Star in Comedy 'Hungry' About Disordered Eating
Editor's Note
If you live with an eating disorder, the following post could be potentially triggering. You can contact the Crisis Text Line by texting “NEDA” to 741741.
On Monday, entertainment media outlets broke the news that Demi Lovato is set to return to TV. She will be starring in (and executive producing) a new comedy called “Hungry.” The pairing of comedy and disordered eating, however, has given some mental health advocates pause.
“Hungry,” according to TV Line, is a show during which “friends who belong to a food issues group help each other as they look for love, success and the perfect thing in the fridge that’s going to make it all better.” As one Twitter user shared, “A sitcom about eating disorders. What could possibly go wrong?”
Approximately 9% of the American population will struggle with an eating disorder at one point in their life, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, (ANAD). Eating disorders are also one of the most dangerous mental illnesses, especially when people can’t access treatment. Yet eating disorders aren’t always taken seriously.
Despite early concerns about “Hungry,” it’s important to note we know almost nothing about the show beyond a one-sentence description. Lovato has long been open about struggling with an eating disorder, so advocates are hopeful the subject of disordered eating will be handled with care.
“I used to genuinely believe recovery from an eating disorder wasn’t real,” Lovato wrote in a December 2020 Instagram post. “I’m so grateful that I can honestly say for the first time in my life – my dietitian looked at me and said ‘This is what eating disorder recovery looks like.'”
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A comedy with a similar premise aired in 2005. Titled “Starved,” the show followed four friends who met at an eating disorders support group. While the sitcom was based on creator Eric Schaeffer’s own experience with an eating disorder, advocates called for viewers to boycott the show before it aired. “Starved” was cancelled after one season.
Header image via Demi Lovato/Instagram
Renée Fabian was the features editor at The Mighty. She has also written for The Washington Post, VICE, Healthline, Talkspace, The Fix, The Establishment, The Culture Trip, and GRAMMY.com, among others. Renée was named a 2019 AHCJ Comparative Effectiveness Research fellow, a 2020 USC Center for Health Journalism California fellow, and holds a master's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California and a master's degree in psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles. You can follow her on Twitter @ryfabian.
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