Lele Pons Talks About Struggling With OCD, Mental Health In New Docuseries

Lele Pons is opening up about her mental health and struggle with Obsessive-compulsive disorder in a new YouTube Originals documentary series, “The Secret Life of Lele Pons.” Episodes from the five-part series will be released on a weekly basis. The first one airs on her YouTube channel on May 19.

“I want to show the unfiltered Lele and the imperfect because I owe it to [my fans],” Pons says. “They have always been super vulnerable with me, and this is for them.”

The 23-year-old first gained popularity on Vine, the short-video social media platform which shut down in 2016. Then, Pons brought her talents to YouTube, dancing and singing, for example. The star—who is Venezuelan and of Italian decent—has used her background and ability to speak multiple languages to connect with more fans.

Each episode includes footage that follows the celebrity’s mental health through her OCD, her father’s coming out story, Tourette syndrome, experience with cyberbullying and self reflection.

“Sometimes we filmed it when I was worse, and sometimes we filmed it when I wasn’t that bad,” Pons says. “I wanted to show the journey, and that’s the way we did the documentary.”

The docuseries includes interviews with Pons’s parents, close relatives, therapist and a special guest who has also spoken publicly about struggling with OCD. Pons decided to make this series about two years ago. She says, “I’ve always had this, and once you’re not ashamed or embarrassed to have it, then that’s one step you can take. Tell people.”

The series should be educational for its viewers, she says. “I want them to understand that OCD is serious if you have it. It’s not an adjective. It’s a disorder.”

She also wants it to be empowering. “I want people to know that if they have it, they can succeed. They can do whatever. It doesn’t define you.”

Pons credits her dad for inspiring her to share her story. Her father, Luis Pons, came out as gay when Lele was at a young age. “The braveness that he had sharing a secret like that with my family pushed me to do the same. He was not ashamed, not afraid of anything,” she says. “Whatever he felt like was right, he did it. I think this is the right thing that I’m doing.”

As she embraces treatment and publicly speaking out about the disorder, she says, “I’m still overcoming it.” Although the series shows her journey, Pons explains that the journey isn’t over because OCD is something to be treated and managed, but it can’t be cured.