Drake Bell and Josh Peck are clearing the air.

The stars of beloved 2000s sitcom Drake & Josh reunited for the first time in years on the March 24 episode of Peck's Good Guys podcast to talk about their time on the show, where their friendship stands now and the "darker moments" they never talked about when they were younger, such as the horrific abuse Bell experienced as a child star that came to light in the 2024 docuseries Quiet on Set.

Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV detailed shocking claims from several former child actors and Nickelodeon employees that included allegations of a toxic culture, sexual abuse, harassment and racial discrimination behind the scenes of some of the biggest children's shows of the '90s and 2000s. On the controversial program, Bell opened up about the sexual abuse he suffered as a teenager at the hands of Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck (no relation to Josh) for the first time publicly.

While speaking to Josh on the podcast, Bell said that he told his mother about the abuse right before Drake & Josh and that they were in the middle of the investigation while shooting the pilot episode. He noted how strange it was to see Brian show up on the set even though he wasn't working on the program.

"I know that this guy's about to get arrested," Bell said. "I know that s--- is about to hit the fan, and nobody in here knows it."

He also compared seeing Brian on set to having a "monster" invade his "safe space."

"That's the only place I feel comfortable, when I get to set and hang out with you guys, and we go goof around and put on our masks and wigs and makeup and make people laugh and slide around and get dirty," he said.

Bell also said that the abuse affected his relationship with Josh at the time, causing him so much stress that his hair was falling out as he worried how the investigation would affect Drake & Josh and if his costar would blame him if they lost the show. Josh, however, had no idea what Bell was going through and simply thought he didn't want to be friends anymore, per People.

"Until you sort of shared with me what was happening, I was just looking at it through the prism of a 14-year-old's brain going like, 'He doesn't want much to do with me,'" Josh admitted, adding that "so much was revealed" after watching the documentary for the first time.

Brian was ultimately sentenced to 16 months in prison for his crimes and ordered to register as a sex offender before later being released in 2005. Josh noted how at one point in time, when he was still unaware of Bell's connection to the case, he asked Bell if he still talked to Brian before receiving an ominous yet illuminating response.

"And you just looked at me like, 'No. Brian's a really bad guy,'" he recalled. "And I remember thinking, 'Gotcha.' And it was all that I needed to know."

Wendy Wild

Life Bytes with Wendy Wild