Why Is Sam Not in the New ‘iCarly’?

iCarly is back after a nearly decade-long hiatus. The sitcom, which ended its five-season run on Nickelodeon in 2012, has returned for a more mature reboot on Paramount+, which features original cast members Miranda Cosgrove (Carly Shay), Jerry Trainor (Spencer Shay), and Nathan Kress (Freddie Benson). If that list sounds just a bit incomplete to you, you’re not wrong — series star Jennette McCurdy, who played Carly’s sassy best friend Sam Puckett, opted out of the reboot.

So, why is Sam not in the new iCarly? Well, there’s an explanation from the iCarly universe, then there’s the comments from McCurdy herself. When the new iCarly first premiered today, it featured a scene between Carly and Freddie in which they explain Sam’s absence from the show. Read the exchange below, per TVLine:

Carly: I just want to make things again.
Freddie: You don’t need a partner to do that.
Carly: I don’t need a partner, I need Sam. But she’s off following her bliss with that biker gang.
Freddie: The Obliterators. I hope she’s OK.
Carly: It’s Sam. I hope they’re OK. I just wish she was here so we could do iCarly again.

Yep, sounds like classic Sam to run off with a biker gang. While fans are sure to miss her on the reboot, it’s safe to say McCurdy is perfectly happy not appearing on the show — or on TV ever again, for that matter. The actor opened up earlier this year about her choice to retire from acting after working as a child star for years.

During a February episode of her podcast Empty Inside, McCurdy admitted, “I’m so ashamed of the parts I’ve done in the past. I resent my career in a lot of ways,” telling her guest Anna Farris, “I feel so unfulfilled by the roles that I played and felt like it was the most cheesy, embarrassing. I did the shows that I was on from like 13 to 21, and by 15, I was already embarrassed.”

She added,”My friends at 15, they’re not like, ‘Oh, cool, you’re on this Nickelodeon show.’ It was embarrassing. And I imagine there’s a very different experience to be had with acting if you’re proud of your roles, and if you feel fulfilled by them.”

After her appearance on iCarly, which she starred in for all five seasons, McCurdy acted alongside Ariana Grande in a spinoff show titled Sam & Cat, which paired up their iCarly and Victorious characters. When the show ended after one season, she went on to appear in shows like What’s Next for Sarah?, Robot Chicken, and Between, but stopped acting in 2018 after appearing in a handful of short films, according to her IMDb page.

Where to watch iCarly