‘Zoey 101’ Star Jamie Lynn Spears Blames the Press For Her Exit From Hollywood After Getting Pregnant at 16

As late ’90s and 2000s kids prepare to relive their childhood and watch (most of) the PCA gang reunite in the upcoming Zoey 102, Jamie Lynn Spears is reflecting on her exit from the 2005 series that made her a household name, and finally distinguished her from her singer-songwriter sister, Britney Spears.

While “Nickelodeon had already planned to end Zoey 101” in 2008, Spears spoke to Variety about the reason why she not only left the show, but Hollywood as a whole, at age 16. The show had ended that May, and Spears had learned that she was pregnant.

“I think when I wrapped Zoey there were all these plans of things like, ‘Let’s go do movies'” she shared. “I was reading scripts for things I was excited about. But like a lot of young girls, I thought I was in love. And there I am, pregnant at 16.”

She was scared and felt loss, preparing to navigate motherhood at such a young age. The spotlight certainly didn’t help, either.

“And the press wasn’t exactly very nice,” she added, explaining that she “wanted to get as far away from it as [she] could.”

This led Spears to purchase a house in Mississippi, a place where she felt she could “put up a gate, put [herself] on a budget,” and raise her baby without the pressures of Hollywood and the press.

While she emphasized that giving birth to her first daughter Maddie (who is now 14) “was not something that [she] regrets or held [her] back,” Spears struggled at one point with providing for her child while demonstrating to her that she “could continue on to be what [she] wanted to be.”

“I had to be accountable for the situation I’d put myself in,”she continued. “I started going to Nashville, writing music and finding other ways to have a creative outlet that made sense for me. It was a break I probably needed because I was very contentious with the press.”

Other than the new spinoff, Spears has slowly made her way back into the spotlight, starring in Netflix‘s Sweet Magnolias, which released its first season in 2020 and competed on Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test in January.

In terms of developments in her personal life, Spears married Jamie Watson in 2014 and together they had their daughter Ivey (5) in 2018. To Spears’ dismay, Ivey recently expressed aspirations to become a movie star.

“It just makes me sad when I think about my kids,” she revealed. “I don’t ever want them to feel the pain or the scrutiny. That’s not necessary and it’s not theirs to carry. So I’ll carry it. That’s fine.”

Zoey 102 will be available to stream on Paramount+ on Thursday, July 27.