She shares her side of the story. Jennette McCurdy has gotten honest about being a child star on Nickelodeon — and the experience wasn’t always positive.
The California native has appeared in a lot of shows on the network over the years. She rose to stardom in the role of Sam Puckett iCarlyFrom 2007 to 2012. After the show ended, McCurdy continued to explore Sam’s story in the spinoff series Sam & Cat. The series was about a crossover of Sam and Victorious’s Cat Valentine, played by Ariana Grande.
The former actress also made minor appearances at Nickelodeon. Zoey 101, True Jackson, Vice President, Fred: The Movie, Big Time Rush Victorious.
In 2014, Sam & Cat was put on a production hiatus in April 2014 amid rumors of conflict between McCurdy and the network. Nickelodeon later confirmed the cancellation of the show for a second season.
“Nickelodeon will not be producing more episodes of Sam & Cat. We are very proud of the show and its very talented cast and we wish them the best,” the network said in a statement to Us WeeklyJuly 2014.
McCurdy for her part, took the role of Wiley Day, the main character, in the short-lived Netflix series Between. The former singer said that she would not be continuing to act after the show was cancelled.
“I quit a few years ago because I initially didn’t want to do it,” she explained during an episode of her “Empty Inside” podcast in March 2021. “I’m so ashamed of the parts I’ve done in the past. … I resent my career in a lot of ways. I felt so empty by the roles I played, and it was embarrassingly cheesy. [thing].”
She added: “Walking away was really difficult but it was something I needed to do for my mental health and for my overall peace.”
Debra McCurdy was a turbulent mother to Jennette, and this podcast host discusses how it influenced her acting career. Following her mom’s death in 2013, Jennette chose to move on from acting to explore other opportunities.
Jennette shared her difficult past in August 2022 in her memoir. I’m Glad My Mom Died. “My whole childhood and adolescence were very exploited,” she told The New York TimesAt the time. “It still gives my nervous system a reaction to say it. There were cases where people had the best intentions and maybe didn’t know what they were doing. And also cases where they did — they knew exactly what they were doing.”
Her former iCarlyCostar Miranda Cosgrove weighed in on Jennette’s comments about her time on television. “When you’re young, you’re so in your own head,” the School of RockStar said this during an interview with The New York Times. “You can’t imagine that people around you are having much harder struggles. You don’t expect things like that from the person in the room who’s making everyone laugh.”
Jennette acknowledged in her book that she had considered a return back to acting after having better relationships in her personal life. “I have people around me now that are so supportive and so loving,” she wrote. “It makes me tearful with joy. I feel so safe. I feel so much trust and so much openness.”
Scroll down for Jennette’s most candid comments about her Nickelodeon journey:
