Jennette McCurdy reveals how she figured out her dad was not her biological father

Former child star Jennette McCurdy has never shied away from family drama.

She even released a tell-all memoir about her relationship with her abusive late mother back in 2022, which became an instant global best-seller and sky-rocketed to the top of the world's book charts.

This week, however, the iCarly actress turned her attention to her father - or, the man she thought was her father.

Making an appearance on the most recent episode of the popular Call Her Daddy podcast, McCurdy claimed she discovered that her mother's husband, her 'dad', Mark, wasn't actually a biological relative when she was in her 20s.

While reflecting on the physical, mental and sexual abuse she'd endured at the hands of her mother, Debra, as a child and teenager, she recalled: "The nail in the coffin being when I realised that when I found out from my, who I thought was my dad, that he was not in fact my dad."

The actress previously released a best-selling memoir about her turbulent upbringing (KENA BETANCUR/Contributor/via Getty Images)

"And that came a year and a half after her death," she told podcast host Alex Cooper. "That was kind of the piece of information that I needed to go, 'Okay, let me consider that maybe this person didn't have my best interests at heart all the time'.

"Because she couldn't, because she wasn't capable of that."

Reflecting on the fact that Debra knew the father regarding her father's identity even when she 'knew she was dying', McCurdy went on to hit out: "She knew for years, when I was two. I get why you don't tell your children then, she knew again when I was 18."

The Nickelodeon star continued: "My siblings were all three, five and nine years older than I was, so we were at that age where we could have, it would have been uncomfortable, it would have been painful of course.

"I would have gotten the answers, I would have gotten some closure, and honestly, I would have respected her more. Like, say the f**king truth."

McCurdy with her abusive mother, Debra, and Mark, who she believed was her father (Mike Guastella/WireImage)

Despite not yet having publicly announced this news until this week, in her memoir, the 33-year-old previously touched on the lack of interest her 'dad' had paid to her when she was a child.

This neglect, McCurdy wrote, only intensified in the wake of her mother's death in 2013, after which her 'father' quickly moved on with Debra's best friend, and began paying more attention to her daughter than his own.

"I was trying to have this relationship with my dad despite the fact that I was hurting and seeing him in this relationship with somebody new," she looked back in the book. "It just hurt. My dad never watched any of the things that I did on TV.

"My mom would force him to go to some of my dance recitals. I’d see him in the audience sleeping every f**king time, just couldn’t keep his eyes open to see me pirouette a couple times, just couldn’t do it."

McCurdy's mother Debra died in 2013 (DAVID CROTTY/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

McCurdy went on: "This is a man who couldn’t have been more obvious about his lack of interest in my life, who seems like fascinated by his new stepdaughter and a part of me thought maybe he’s grown as a person and he’s trying to show up in ways that he didn’t for me, and then the other part of me though yeah, but he didn’t show up for me so why am I here showing up for him."

Also in the book, the Sam & Cat star revealed she'd made the decision to cut the man in question off.

"I have not talked to my dad in years, one of the best decisions of my life," she wrote. "The man’s aging, the man’s going to die. I’m not going to, I won’t see him.

"I will never see him again and I am so proud of that decision and I genuinely - I’m hopeful that this is inspiring in some way if you’re struggling with a relationship and you’re chained to the bonds of loyalty.

"If you’re locked into a relationship with a family member because of loyalty, you owe it to yourself to move on."