Demi Lovato tells Alan Carr: I'm more confident now

The former Disney star, who had a nervous breakdown in 2010, joins Alan Carr on the sofa tonight, as his talk show Chatty Man returns for a 15th series.

The 23-year-old singer said she has a new-found confidence boost, as she prepares to release her fifth album Confident.

“I think, on my last album I didn’t really know myself as an artist as well as I do today. A lot of that comes from caring too much about what people thought,” she told the funnyman.

“There is a transition period from Disney to the mainstream adult world and I didn’t want to transition too fast. So I feel like being 23 I can do that without caring so much if people are going to react to this or that – this is who I am.”

Demi – whose screen credits include musical series Glee and a judging stint on the US version of The X Factor – continued: “I think there was something very liberating over this past year when I really honestly stopped caring.

“Now if I see a comment it doesn’t affect me because I’ve become so confident and so comfortable in my own skin that it doesn’t affect me as much as it used to. Don’t get me wrong, it can still hurt if they say certain things but anything that has to do with body stuff, I’ve done so much work on myself mentally, not just physically but mentally that I can see through it.”

The star, who often posts images of her body on Twitter and Instagram, has learned to deal with cyberbullies and “body shamers”. She previously stood up to an online tweeter who called her “fatty” on the micro-blogging website.

“It’s crazy. It’s like how Britney (Spears) said, ‘She’s too big, now she’s too thin, you want a piece of me’ and honey, I totally understand how she is feeling. Listen, those haters just want a piece of me,” she said.

Having supported the LGBT community and admitted to experimenting sexually in the past, she remained tight-lipped over rumours of being a lesbian, telling Alan: “I’m not confirming and I’m definitely not denying. I don’t think there is anything wrong with experimentation at all.”

This Is England ’90 stars Stephen Graham, Vicky McClure and Thomas Turgoose also join Alan on the show.

Vicky, who reprises her role as Lol in Shane Meadows’ drama, revealed some of the props were stolen on the set of the ’86 series.

“Gear got nicked on ’86. They nicked the radio and they wanted some money for it so you have to give them money,” she said. “But then Woody (Joe Gilgun) lost his parrot and the whole of Sheffield came together. They found it!”

Tom Hardy, who stars as Ronnie and Reggie Kray in Legend, also appears on Alan Carr Chatty Man, which airs at 10pm on Channel 4 tonight (September 11).