Former Drake & Josh stars Drake Bell and Josh Peck had a long-awaited discussion about their time on Nickelodeon.
In a new episode Peck and Ben Soffer's The Good Guys Podcast, posted on Monday (March 24), the actors shared their reactions to last year's Investigation Discovery docuseries Quiet on Set. In the multipart special, Bell revealed that, at 15-years-old, he was a victim of sexual abuse by his Nickelodeon dialogue coach, Brian Peck (no relation). In 2004, the sex offender pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 16 months in prison, although, at the time, Bell was not named as his victim.
"You know what the show means to everyone. You know that the moments that were great were great, and we were incredibly lucky to get to do this thing that we loved," Peck said around the 58-minute mark of the video below.
"But there's also the truth of everything you went through and everything that was an experience for a kid that was unacceptable in so many ways and you’ve got to wrestle with this," he continued. "I remember people would ask me about the show, and I would say, 'Well, I lost a hundred pounds and had to get sober at 21. Did I seem happy?' Like, it’s a bit of a sign."
Bell responded, saying that his friends who watched Quiet on Set decided that they wouldn't watch Drake & Josh reruns.
"That was where I actually was comfortable and happy and stoked and I'm very proud of what we did and I loved the show," Bell admitted, adding that he once revisited episodes for a friend who had never seen it.
Drake & Josh lasted for four seasons from 2004 to 2007, premiering years after Bell and Peck were cast mates on The Amanda Show.
Bell, who's shown an openness to rebooting Drake & Josh, recently told People that revealing that his sexual abuse trauma was a "weight lifted."
"It’s a roller coaster of emotions," he told the publication. "I don’t want to sugarcoat it and make the message, ‘Hey, all you got to do is just tell somebody and get your story out and when you wake up the next day, it’s going to be gone and everything’s going to be fine and you’re going to walk through life without any pain or sorrow or sadness!’ It’s always going to be there, but it’s a lot nicer getting support."