Featured Image Credit: Good Guys podcast
Topics: Celebrity, US News, TV And Film
Rhianna Benson
Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault which some readers may find distressing.
Nickelodeon actor Josh Peck has been reminiscing about his relationship with fellow child star Amanda Bynes, revealing on Tuesday (25 March) when the two last saw one another in the flesh.
The 38-year-old brought on his Drake & Josh co-star, Drake Bell, on the Good Guys podcast last week, where they chatted about their time together as child actors.
Both Peck and Bell first met Bynes, also 38, on the set of her titular kids' TV series, The Amanda Show, when the trio were just teenagers.
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Bell was first cast in the much-loved series, making his on-screen debut in 1999, with Peck joining the cast the following year. Following the success of the show, whilst Bell and Peck went on to front Drake & Josh together, Bynes was cast in a number of movie hits - including Hairspray, She's The Man, and Easy A.
In the years that followed, however, the star left Hollywood and was placed under a conservatorship by her parents in 2013 following her drug abuse and legal issues, TODAY reports.
Since then, Bynes has kept out of the spotlight, however, in 2014, she graduated from Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising with a degree in merchandise product development and in 2020, she revealed she'd underwent treatment for 'ongoing mental health issues'.
While discussing the 2024 Investigation Discovery documentary Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, in which Bell spoke about his experience of sexual abuse at the hands of dialogue coach Brian Peck, Bynes was brought into the conversation, with Bell revealing he'd spoken to her eight years ago after catching wind of her personal struggles.
"I randomly talked to her, like, it was 2017, maybe. It's around that time," he explained. "I randomly messaged her.
"She was in the news or something, and I was just thinking about her. And I was like, 'Oh, I'm just gonna message her. She'll never see it. She'll never respond'."
After Bell added that Bynes did in fact write back, Peck recalled his last interaction with the actress.
"I see her, like, every two to three years, we'll run into each other, and she's just the greatest," he gushed.
Peck went on to credit Bynes specifically as inspiration for making it in the movie biz.
"She was great then, she remains great, and such a good person," Peck gushed. "Obviously has had some public struggles, but I just think she's got one of the great hearts and great skills, great talents of anyone there is."
He added: "All I've ever experienced with Amanda was just like this dynamite force of nature when it comes to talent.
"Watching her was like watching Carol Burnett, was like watching Tracey Ullman."
Bell went on to second Peck's statement, as he continued: "Other than being on the show, and, you know, she was an idol to me. I mean, I grew up on All That.
"One of the most talented people on the label. When I got to audition for The Amanda Show, she may as well have been Rachel on Friends.
"She was the biggest thing on the planet to me."