Why Jamie Lynn Spears And Alexa Nikolas Can't Stand Each Other
"Zoey 101" stars Alexa Nikolas and Jamie Lynn Spears may have been besties on the hit Nickelodeon show, but that close dynamic didn't spill over when the cameras stopped rolling.
Spears played the titular character in the popular series, which ran from 2005 to 2008. The show follows the adventures of teenager Zoey Brooks and her friends who attend a boarding school in California. Nikolas played Nicole Bristow, Zoey's best friend and roommate. "Zoey 101" was a funny, feel-good teen show. However, the off-screen picture was anything but — especially for these two co-stars.
While Spears starred in "Zoey 101" for the entirety of its run (and returned for its revival film, "Zoey 102"), Nikolas left the series after two seasons, according to HuffPost. On multiple occasions, Nikolas has been outspoken about the horrible treatment she endured while working at Nickelodeon. In a 2022 Instagram Live (via Page Six), she said, "I did not feel protected at Nickelodeon as a child, personally." Referring to the show's creator, she said, "I did not feel safe around Dan Schneider while I was working at Nickelodeon." In addition, Nikolas' relationship with Spears was heated and that impacted her decision to exit the series.
Alexa Nikolas said Jamie Lynn Spears bullied her
Tensions between Alexa Nikolas and Jamie Lynn Spears ran high on the set of "Zoey 101," to say the least. In a July appearance on the H3 Podcast, Nikolas shared, "Jamie Lynn Spears just created a very toxic, unhealthy work environment." Nikolas couldn't pinpoint what exactly caused their feud in the first place, but noted that Jamie Lynn seemed to dislike her bubbly personality from the get-go. According to Nikolas, things only got worse on-set, with Jamie Lynn frequently putting her down. "It just started to snowball, basically, and then it became bullying where she would just say harsh things to me like, 'Why do you smile so much?'" she explained.
Then, one day, Britney Spears stepped in and confronted Nikolas in Jamie Lynn's trailer. As Jamie Lynn kept quiet in the back, the pop star yelled at Nikolas and accused her of bullying her sister. Nikolas revealed, "I couldn't even speak, and I tried, and I just started to cry and hyperventilate. And [Britney] was like, 'I'm gonna make sure you don't work again."
In 2022, Britney wrote an extensive apology to Nikolas on social media, explaining that she didn't know what was actually going on behind the scenes. In an Instagram post, Nikolas accepted her apology and expressed her longtime admiration for the singer. "As you know I forgive you. You have always been my biggest inspiration and strength since I was 6 years old," she shared.
Jamie Lynn Spears' memoir accusations about Alexa Nikolas
The "Zoey 101" drama caused friction between Jamie Lynn Spears and Alexa Nikolas years later. With the release of Jamie Lynn's 2022 memoir, "Things I Should Have Said," the former co-stars' feud was reignited. According to BuzzFeed, Jamie Lynn claimed Nikolas spread rumors that she was "mean and b****y" and "smelled bad" on the "Zoey 101" set. She wrote that Nikolas' remarks about her smell made her "humiliated and sad."
Nikolas was livid about Jamie Lynn's book accusations and fired back on social media. In an Instagram post, she wrote, "I was pretty surprised to see her lying up a storm there." She revealed that Spears finally apologized to her after Nikolas publicly shared her distressing experiences at Nickelodeon. Nikolas remained cautious but forgave her. However, she became suspicious when Jamie Lynn contacted her to send a gift just a day after Britney Spears unfollowed her sister.
Nikolas wrote, "Typical move for a bully to play the victim card/gaslight others while straight up lying." Nikolas told Jamie Lynn to stop contacting her. She continued, "She never addressed anything that she mentioned in the book to me personally because she knows everything she is saying is a total lie and I would have called her out on that." A reconciliation between these two? It doesn't sound promising.