Aaron Carter Was Set to Appear on Former Disney Child Star's Podcast Ahead of His Death

 Nearly a month before Aaron Carter's death, the late singer caused fellow child star Christy Carlson Romano to worry after he missed a scheduled appearance on her podcast. In the new Nov. 15 episode of her Vulnerable podcast, the 38-year-old Even Stevens alum explained that the "I Want Candy" star never showed up for an interview. "I was genuinely concerned … I felt instinctively that something bad would happen to him, like, soon. I was, unfortunately, right," revealed Romano in a three-minute preface to the episode, which was added in after Carter's passing on Nov. 5.

A Romano representative told New York Post the episode was filmed toward the end of September. The reason Carter did not attend the taping is unclear. During the episode, Romano checked her phone for an update on Carter's location while continuing the show alone, speaking into the microphone across from another unattended mic. "I'm still looking," she laughed as she put down her phone. "I should accept the fact that this interview is not happening."

During Romano's scheduled episode, Carter was not referred to by name but as "our guest. "It is disappointing because I really wanted our guest to feel seen," she continued. "I wanted them to communicate what their desires in their life would be going forward and try to help them through that and try to help manifest that with them. "Also, too, I'm just kind of like worried because there's no update, and I hope that they're OK, and I'm sending them love," Romano added.

Also, she shared some of the topics she had prepared for Carter, including his childhood, relationship with his family, and future hopes. Recently, Romano opened up about her struggles as a child actress to The Sun, with Carter's passing prompting her confession. "I'm about seven years sober now from alcohol and have two daughters, I'm a YouTuber and a podcaster," she admitted. "I can promise you that I've been through trauma, which is why I'm very passionate about this topic and am starting to get the word out with my Vulnerable Podcast because it's allowing others to finally open up."

"People ask me if I'd put my two girls in showbusiness, and I've told them that I want them to be introduced to the arts without making it all about the money," Romano added. "There's a difference between enjoying something and not being a part of a broken system." She worked on the East Coast throughout her childhood, but her move to television and Los Angeles was challenging, resulting in a downward spiral. "When I first arrived in California, I found myself in a new environment that I'd never experienced before and even more different to the theater world that I knew in New York," the Connecticut native admitted. "It was a culture shock, and I was dislocated from my family, which was very hard for me to manage."

Ultimately, her professional success affected her relationship with her family and emotional state. "It felt traumatizing having my nuclear family disrupted while just having one parent with one child to support their dreams," the mother-of-two said. "This affected everyone else in my family as well. "First, there's the comparison game, and so that's living your life in constant comparison with other kids and people just in your community," she explained. "It made us all feel isolated from each other since everyone's competing against one another, which is why not many talk about the issue today, like I am." Early success and the pressure to succeed at an early age left her feeling lonely. "I wasn't thriving and making good decisions and stopped showing up," Romano said. "That is trauma, and even though this isn't the most extreme form, there are enough of us coming together now as we just want to help. "I then couldn't manage on my own as I had become co-dependent, so I started to rely on alcohol and began having co-dependent relationships," she concluded.