Desperate Housewives alum Madison De La Garza announced on Thursday, September 5, that she’s pregnant with her first baby and due next month.
De La Garza, the younger sister of pop star Demi Lovato, made the announcement on her Instagram page alongside a photo with her boyfriend, actor Ryan Mitchell, who has appeared in the likes of The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless. In the pic, Garza is seen wearing a flowery dress and holding her baby bump.
“Oh ryan, how I love you. thank you for making all of my dreams come true. ♥️ baby mitchell 10.24,” the actress wrote.
She also shared other photos celebrating with her friends and family, including one with her sisters, Demi Lovato, Dallas Lovato, and their mom, Dianna De La Garza.
In the comments section of the post, Demi wrote, “I love you and this baby so much already!!” The singer followed up in an Instagram Story of her own, writing, “Congratulations baby girl. I love you so much.”
De La Garza’s mom also commented, writing, “Woohoooo. I’m gonna be a REAL GRANDMA D NOW!!!! Love youuuuu!!”
Other stars shared their well wishes, including The Conners actress Emma Kenney, who said, “Congratulations Madison !!!!” and Mr Mayor star Josie Totah, who added, “U were always mother and now u’ll be mama.”
De La Garza rose to fame as a child star, making her on-screen debut as herself on a variety show hosted by Demi and Selena Gomez in 2003. The following year, at just six years old, she joined the cast of Desperate Housewives as Juanita Solis, the daughter of Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) and her husband Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira).
The young actress struggled with weight issues as a child, which inspired an ongoing plotline on Desperate Housewives. De La Garza has spoken openly about these issues and how cyberbullying led to an eating disorder.
“The reactions that I got to my character on Desperate Housewives, I mean, it was just shocking,” De La Garza revealed on Elizabeth Vargas‘ Heart of the Matter podcast last April. “A lot of people came at it in a way that they were quote-unquote concerned for my health. I personally believe that that’s just not true. That it was a cover-up so that they could just judge a six-year-old.”
“They said things like they wanted me to die because of what I looked [like]. It was just horrible, like, ‘ugly fat cow,’ and ‘I hope you get cancer and die because you’re so fat.’ Just horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible things, and this was when I was 6, 7, 8 years old,” she explained.
“Reading comments like that definitely affected my mental health,” she continued, “and ultimately played into me developing an eating disorder at a very young age.”
De La Garza went on to say that she is “about two years into recovery” and “things are going really, really well.”
She went public with her relationship with Mitchell this summer, writing “My whole world” in the caption of a photo added to her Instagram on June 13.
Most recently, De La Garza appeared as herself in the YouTube docuseries Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil. Her other credits include American Koko, Bad Teacher, Good Luck Charlie, and Sonny with a Chance.