Ariana Grande fans accuse Nickelodeon of 'sexualising' her when she was a child after seeing disturbing footage

Amid the plethora of sexual abuse allegations being made against former Nickelodeon employees, fans of singer Ariana Grande are calling producers out for 'sexualising' and 'infantilising' the star when she was a child.

The 'yes, and?' hitmaker first launched into the spotlight back in 2010, when she was cast as loveable rogue Cat Valentine in the kids' comedy series Victorious.

Ariana immediately impressed both Paramount bosses and viewers at home with her staggering musical ability, and a spin-off series titled Sam and Cat subsequently landed, plummeting the child star further into stardom.

In the years that followed, the actor would go on to become one of the most successful and influential artists of the 21st century, releasing seven best-selling studio albums and landing roles on Broadway.

It wasn't until recent years, however, that fans of the singer took a look back at some of Ariana's childhood performances, with many noticing an apparent pattern in how the youngster was 'sexualised' by producers at the time.

In fact, several resurfaced clips of her time on the two shows have since gone viral online, sparking concern amongst viewers.

In one scene - recorded whilst Ariana was just 16 - the actor could be seen talking about her uvula getting stuck between a hamster's toes, before putting her finger in the back of her throat.

In another scene, the youngster can be seen talking about being 'soaking wet', whilst a third sees her putting her toes in her mouth.

In an even more sinister clip, a teenage Ariana could be seen lying on her back and pouring water on her chest.

One person wrote online in the weeks since the clips began trending online: "This is absolutely disgusting. As an adult watching this right now you can tell EXACTLY what they were doing.

"I hope she speaks on it, people will definitely support her. But understand exactly why she doesn't given how they treat people who do."

Another said: "This always makes me nauseous, imagine 'directing' a teenager to do that stuff as a grown man."

A third added: "When she stuck her finger in her mouth... She looked physically uncomfortable, and the feet thing... Just... Wow, disgusting."

The speculation surrounding Ariana's treatment formed part of wider allegations that a plethora of child stars had been both emotionally and physically abused by adults working at the TV channel.

Amongst those to have been placed under serious scrutiny was Dan Schneider, famed for producing the likes of teenage sitcom hits Drake and Josh and Zoey 101.

Schneider has since filed a defamation lawsuit against the documentary Quiet on Set, which attempted to shed light on the rumours.

Child actor Drake Bell was also amongst the numerous stars to appear in the docu-series, alleging that he was sexually abused by since-convicted sex offender Brian Peck, who also worked close to The Amanda Show star Amanda Bynes.

Earlier this year, Ariana broke her silence on the matter by calling for stronger measures to be put in place by TV producers to protect children from abuse.

Appearing on Gossip Girl pal Penn Badgley's hit podcast Podcrushed back in June, the 'God Is A Woman' hitmaker reflected on her time at Nickelodeon.

Describing the ongoing accusations as 'devastating', she expressed her 'empathy' towards those that are suffering.

She explained: "Obviously, my relationship to it is currently and has been changing and I'm reprocessing a lot about what the experience was like.

"I think the environment needs to be made safer if kids are going to be acting. I think there should be therapists, there should be parents allowed to be wherever they want to be - not only on kids' sets."