The Saddest Updates To Come Out About Former Nickelodeon Stars

For children of all ages growing up in the late 1990s, 2000s, and beyond, Nickelodeon was the go-to television channel for entertainment that reached them on their level. From the animated series of the early '90s — like "Rugrats" and "Rocko's Modern Life" to millennial sketch shows like "All That," and sitcoms along the vein of 2004-07's "Drake & Josh" and 2007-12's "iCarly," there was something for every kid throughout the different stages of their life. For all the laughs and tender moments those shows offered their viewers, though, there were moments of pain, abuse, and the outright exploitation of child performers behind the scenes.

Nickelodeon's shady side was put under a microscope in the documentary "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV," in which many former child performers offered harrowing accounts of their experiences on the network and depressing updates about the impact those experiences had on their lives. Meanwhile, other former Nick stars have given similarly grim accounts of their off-camera lives and the tragedies that have beset them. Here are the saddest updates to come out about former Nickelodeon stars in recent years.

From 2004 to 2007, Tylor Chase played Martin Qwerly on more than 30 episodes of the TEENick sitcom "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide." A big-time brain with the gift of gab, Qwerly was one of Ned (Devon Werkheiser), Cookie (Daniel Curtis Lee), and Moze's (Lindsey Shaw) friends at James K. Polk Middle School. In addition to his work on the Nickelodeon series, Chase played Young Adam in the 2007 James Franco-directed feature "Good Time Max" and voiced Hank Newbern in the 2011 Rockstar video game "L.A. Noire." Over the last decade-plus, though, the ex-child star has fallen on hard times.

Viral videos on various social media platforms showed fans, content creators, and former costars interacting with Chase on the streets of Riverside, California, where the former "Ned's Declassified" star has experienced homelessness. Some of the videos have shown people offering assistance to Chase, including Curtis, his "Ned's Declassified" co-star. "The Mighty Ducks" star/comedian Shaun Weiss has also attempted to get Chase into treatment for substance misuse, and pleaded with fans to stop filming him. "We're having a really hard time. Tyler has to want to go to treatment," Weiss said in an Instagram update. "We don't really know what to do. I'll tell you what's not helpful is the people that want to go and see him to get a selfie for their Instagram."

"Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV" offered a damning look at the dark behind-the-scenes environment on the sets of popular teen and children's programming, particularly at Nickelodeon, during the 1990s and early 2000s. Perhaps the biggest story to come out of the docu-series was "Drake & Josh" star Drake Bell's revelation that he was sexually assaulted by his former dialogue coach and manager Brian Peck. Peck was arrested in 2003 and eventually pleaded no contest to charges including committing a lewd act upon a child, but the victim's identity was not revealed publicly. Peck later served more than a year in prison and was ordered to register as a sex offender.

For Bell, going public with his tragic story was both a liberating and healing experience. "It's been a really nice weight lifted," he told People in 2025. However, Bell also made it clear that he's still dealing with the trauma. "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."

In the years between his Nickelodeon days and his "Quiet on Set" revelation, Drake Bell contended with a multitude of legal and personal issues all his own. In 2010, Bell was convicted of DUI in relation to an incident that occurred in San Diego the prior year. He picked up a second DUI conviction in Los Angeles County in 2016. Then, in 2020, a former girlfriend accused him of physical and emotional abuse and hinted at Bell exhibiting inappropriate behavior toward underage girls. Fast-forward to 2021, and Bell was arrested and later indicted in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, for alleged crimes involving a 15-year-old girl.

Later that year, Bell pleaded guilty in the case and was sentenced to two years' probation. Speaking on the "Not Skinny But Not Fat" podcast in 2024, Bell, who claimed he cut contact with the girl upon discovering her age, said he entered a guilty plea in an effort to ease the burden of the case on his family. "I was being investigated, and that was really difficult on my family, and thankfully ... it turned out that most of what was being accused of me wasn't true," he said (via Rolling Stone). "But I did have these conversations [with the teen], and so I took responsibility for that and ended up pleading guilty because, just, financially, I was just devastated. I had just had a son, and I didn't want to put my family through all of this anymore."

Actress Allie DiMeco starred as Rosalina, the bassist and love interest of Nat (Nat Wolff), in the Nickelodeon musical comedy series "The Naked Brothers Band" from 2007 to 2009. During the show's third and final season, the performer found herself involved in a storyline that saw her character exit the titular band and experience a falling out with Nat after she was snapped kissing a man while traveling on a worldwide cruise. In the show, Rosalina, Nat, and the band (including her replacement in the act) eventually make up and get back to the business of making music. In real life, though, the experience of bringing that story to life was far more traumatic for DiMeco.

In 2024, DiMeco posted a TikTok video revealing that she had been forced to kiss the actor playing her French fling (Jake Hertzog) even though he was roughly twice her age. "There was an episode where Rosalina cheated on Nat and kind of kissed a French guy," DiMeco said (via Variety). "He's a 30-year-old man. I'm sorry, I couldn't even watch it. It gives me f*****g the ick, and it honestly gives me PTSD. ... My mom was very against it, and they pretty much made me feel like I was going to lose my job, that I might be fired if I didn't do it."

Teen comedies weren't the only shows Nickelodeon was churning out for its slightly older viewers. In 2012, the network aired a telenovela-style drama called "Hollywood Heights" on Nick at Nite and, later, its revamped TeenNick slate. Actor Cody Longo played the leading role of Eddie Duran, a young rock star and mentor/love interest for upstart songwriter Loren Tate, who was portrayed by Brittany Underwood. In true telenovela fashion, the network produced a whopping 80 episodes of "Hollywood Heights," releasing all of them that summer and wrapping up all of the limited series' storylines in the process. Afterward, Longo — who previously worked on the NBC soap "Days of Our Lives" — continued to appear in various film and television projects.

Unfortunately, Longo's life came to a tragic end in February 2023. According to a written statement from his friend and agent, Alex Gittelson (via NBC News), the 34-year-old actor "died in his sleep at his home in Austin, TX," and the cause of death was "believed to have been alcohol-related." TMZ obtained a copy of Longo's autopsy report months later, confirming Gittelson's suspicion, as the official cause of death was reportedly listed as "chronic ethanol abuse."

Amanda Bynes was the breakout star of Nickelodeon's late 1990s/early 2000s child stars, thrilling audiences and network executives alike with her comedic timing and cute persona. She was lightning in a bottle, prompting the powers that be to quickly push her to the forefront of the "All That" cast before giving her her own star vehicle with "The Amanda Show" in 1999. Bynes' star continued to rise after her Nick days, too, as she went on to appear in the WB sitcom "What I Like About You" in 2002 and teen comedy films like 2002's "Big Fat Liar," 2003's "What a Girl Wants," 2006's "She's the Man," and others. However, as she grew out of those teen roles, she fell prey to intense media scrutiny, legal troubles, and fan speculation about her appearance and mental state.

Eventually, Bynes retreated from the spotlight entirely. In 2024, she emerged to reveal that her weight was fluctuating due to depression. However, she returned in late 2025 to spotlight her weight loss journey on Instagram, writing (via People), "I usually don't like paparazzi pictures bc I was 180lbs, but now I've lost 28lbs on Ozempic! I'm down to 152lbs." With any luck, she'll get a reprieve from the paparazzi's prying camera lenses as her journey continues.

When Nickelodeon was still finding its way as a network during the early 1990s, "Salute Your Shorts" was one of its first real success stories, even as the sitcom ran for just two seasons from 1991 to '92. The series chronicled the hijinks of the teen campers and staff members at the fictional summer camp, Camp Anawanna. Actor Kirk Baily played camp counselor Kevin "Ug" Lee, who essentially served as the foil for the show's young heroes. After "Salute Your Shorts" ended, Baily went on to appear in a multitude of film and television projects, and settled into a niche as a voice actor in anime, video games, and film/TV. 

Baily's life was cut tragically short, though, in February 2022 when the actor passed away at the age of 59. As reported by Variety, his domestic partner, Ranjani Brow, later confirmed that he died after battling lung cancer. Nonetheless, Baily will always be remembered for his performance on "Salute Your Shorts," and he was able to take part in a reunion with his castmates at the "Good Burger" pop-up shop in 2019.

In the world of Nickelodeon's teen programming, as with Hollywood at large, some actors are fortunate enough to play leading roles while others provide support as best-friend characters. Perhaps no Nick actor played the part of the lovable pal like Jenette McCurdy, who, as Sam Puckett, famously seconded Miranda Cosgrove's Carly Shay on the late 2000s sitcom "iCarly," after which she did the same for Ariana Grande's Cat Valentine in the mid-2010s on "Sam & Cat." From an incredibly young age, McCurdy impressed with her comedic timing and likability. Behind the scenes, though, all was not well with the burgeoning star.

In her 2022 memoir, "I'm Glad My Mom Died," McCurdy wrote at length about her complicated relationship with her mother, which became the tragedy that changed her life forever. According to McCurdy, her mother forced her into acting despite not having an interest in the craft herself. She further described being emotionally and sexually abused by her mother, who ultimately died of breast cancer in 2013. In July 2025, AppleTV+ greenlit a series based on the memoir, with Jennifer Aniston set to star and produce.

Between her toxic relationship with her mother, on-set issues, career pressures, and more, Jennette McCurdy's life as an up-and-coming actress during the 2000s and 2010s was anything but a pleasure cruise. And the weight of everything that she was contending with during her Nickelodeon run bled into her relationships behind the scenes, including the dynamic between her and her "Sam & Cat" costar, Ariana Grande. In her memoir "I'm Glad My Mom Died," McCurdy got honest about her experience working with Grande, revealing that the secondary treatment she allegedly received at the hands of the show's producers, coupled with all the attention and opportunities that flowed Grande's way, fomented a level of jealousy within her.

However, it was apparently a game of charades with Tom Hanks that served as the straw that broke the back of their relationship. Wrote McCurdy (via Entertainment Tonight), "I couldn't take it anymore. Music performances and magazine covers... whatever, I'll get over it. But playing a family game at National Treasure, two-time Academy Award–winner and six-time nominee Tom Hanks's house? I'm done. ... Pop star success I could handle, but hanging out with Sheriff Woody, with Forrest F*****g Gump? This has gone too far."

In many ways, the documentary "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV" was a watershed moment for performers who had endured all sorts of mistreatment during their time on Nickelodeon shows. The docu-series provided them with an opportunity to break their silence, to come clean about the abuse they allegedly endured, and take another step in their healing journeys while exposing the people and processes that allowed them to suffer as child stars. Without the show, the world may never have known about the horror that Drake Bell endured at the hands of one of the most trusted adults in his life. However, not everyone who participated in the series had a positive experience.

Raquel Lee, who starred alongside Amanda Bynes on "The Amanda Show," and Alexa Nikolas, who played Nicole Bristow from 2005 to '06 on "Zoey 101," lamented their "Quiet on Set" experience in speaking with IndieWire in 2024. "After watching the show, I saw that it was not at all what I signed up for," Lee Bolleau told the outlet. Said Nikolas: "They made me feel like my story was going to be heard, and it wasn't."

After appearing in bit parts on series like "Webster" and "Tales From the Crypt" during the late 1980s, Michael Ray Bower broke out as one of Nickelodeon's early teen stars in 1990 as Eddie "Donkeylips" Gelfand on the teen sitcom "Salute Your Shorts." Donkeylips provided comic relief in spades while serving as the second to red-headed camp bully Bobby Budnick (Danny Cooksey). Bower was also the first character to show up on screen during each episode, as the show's intro opened with Donkeylips playing the trumpet. In the days since "Salute Your Shorts," Bower has racked up a veritable bonanza of film and television credits, including a supporting role in the 2001 Ivan Reitman-directed comedy "Evolution."

More recently, though, the actor has stoked concerns about his health situation. As reported by The U.S. Sun, Bower took to Instagram to share some of the struggles he had endured since being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. "I won't lie. It's scary to me all this stuff, or anytime I get hurt," he wrote (via The Sun), revealing that he had suffered numerous falls recently due to "equilibrium issues." Bower added that he felt "alone" in coping with his medical situation, and that he was facing "a future with no care."

Jansen Panettiere may not have been the most famous member of his family — his sister, Hayden Panettiere, was one of the breakout television stars of the late 2000s thanks to her role as Claire Bennet on the NBC superhero series "Heroes" — but he was a talent in his own right. After voicing Periwinkle in the Nick Jr. series "Blue's Clues" in 2004, he voiced Truman X in the 2005-06 animated series "The X's," and then starred in the Nickelodeon made-for-TV film "The Last Day of Summer" in 2007. Following his Nick work, he starred in the 2009 coming-of-age sports film "The Perfect Game," and logged a litany of other credits.

Sadly, Panettiere died in February 2023 at the age of 28. As reported by Deadline, his family later revealed that his cause of death was "cardiomegaly, or enlarged heart, coupled with aortic valve complications." Two years after his death, his sister paid tribute to her late brother, with whom she had a close relationship, via Instagram, writing, "Rest easy brother. You are so missed and beyond loved."

Not all of Nickelodeon's stars during the '90s and 2000s were of the teen variety, and some of them didn't even appear on camera. Jim Ward was already a veteran voice actor by the time he made his way to the network. However, he cemented his legacy in the craft with his work as Doug Dimmadome, Chet Ubetcha, and other characters across 10 seasons of the 2001-17 animated series "The Fairly OddParents." He also lent his voice to myriad other film, television, and video game characters across a career that began way back in the '70s. He famously portrayed Captain Qwark in the Ratchet & Clank video game franchise.

Alas, Ward died at the age of 66 in December 2025. Ward's wife, Janice, later told TMZ that her husband had died due to complications from advanced-stage Alzheimer's disease.