See Demi Lovato and Jennifer Hudson Sing a Holiday-Inspired Riff Off
![The Jennifer Hudson Show](https://www.rollingstone.com/wp-content/themes/vip/pmc-rollingstone-2022/assets/public/lazyload-fallback.gif)
Demi Lovato gets into the holiday spirit on Thursday’s episode of the Jennifer Hudson Show, joining the host for a seasonal riff off.
In a game titled “You Say It, We’ll Sing It,” Lovato and Hudson turned the audience’s responses to holiday-themed queries. For example, the singers turned one audience member’s presumed Christmas gift — “a lump of coal, because I’ve been very naughty this year” — into a smoky piano ballad.
Lovato also sat down with Hudson to discuss her recent MTV Video Music Awards performance, meeting Aretha Franklin, and being a role model for those struggling with mental health.
“You know who I saw cheering me on? Taylor Swift and Kelsea Ballerini,” Lovato said of the VMAs performance. “I was nervous going out there, but once I saw people in the audience cheering me on, I said, ‘I can do this.'”
Lovato, who has always been candid about her struggles, also opened up about why she has chosen to be so public about her mental health journey.
“I had always wanted the role model that I didn’t have growing up. I’m not saying I didn’t have role models growing up, but when I spoke about my eating disorder, in Hollywood, there weren’t people talking about eating disorders that I knew of, so I wanted to be that of my generation,” Lovato told Hudson.
“Saying you know what, it’s okay to talk about your mental health, and I want to be the person who is a 13-year-old at home who is struggling with the same issues I had.”