Drake Bell Says He “Never Saw Anything” Odd Between Amanda Bynes And Dan Schneider

Drake Bell is opening up about his relationship with Amanda Bynes more than two decades after starring on Nickelodeon’s The Amanda Show together.

The duo were the main subjects in the Investigation Discovery docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, in which Bell detailed the sexual abuse he faced at the hands of former Nick dialogue coach Brian Peck. While ex-employees also called out the uncomfortably close relationship between a young Bynes and show creator Dan Schneider, the actress has kept quiet on the revelations made in the doc.

“I can only speak to my experience while I was working with Amanda and that was that she was, like you said, just an incredible talent,” Bell said on a recent episode of the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast. “She was so funny, she was so — she was like a rocket ship. She got on set and she was just — the talent that just oozed from her effortlessly was awe-inspiring.”

He continued, “She was a big star to me because I’d grown up watching All That, and so for me when I booked The Amanda Show, I just couldn’t believe it, and that I got to work with her. I was already such a big fan.”

In Quiet on Set, All That editor Karyn Finley Thompson brought attention to Schneider’s bond with Bynes, calling one particular scene in which the two of them are in a jacuzzi together “a little odd.”

“I definitely saw Amanda being very close physically with Dan,” she said, per Us Weekly. “There were many times I saw Amanda sitting behind him hugging him, or giving him a neck massage. Dan and Amanda had a close relationship. I didn’t think anything different than that.”

After the doc premiered, Schneider admitted he owed some people “a pretty strong apology.” Regarding the massage allegations, he said it “was wrong that [he] ever put anybody in that position,” and while he “would never do it today,” he was “embarrassed that [he] did it then.”

Unlike others in the series, Bell did not have a toxic experience with Schneider. The Drake & Josh alum even credited the exec with being “one of the few people” who was there for him amid his sexual abuse case against Peck. He also denied ever seeing anything strange between his former boss and Bynes.

“This was in the throes of a lot that I was dealing with personally, but no, I mean, I just saw a really talented, amazing actress, and no, I never saw anything,” he said, noting that he hasn’t had any contact with Bynes in recent years.

Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV is currently streaming on Max.

If you or someone you know needs to reach out about sexual abuse or assault, RAINN is available 24/7 at 800-656-HOPE (4673), or online at RAINN.org.