Nickelodeon child stars now – murder, arrests, Britney Spears feud and health battle

Far from the relative innocence of Nickelodeon in its heyday, plenty of the network’s former child stars went slightly off the rails after leaving their respective shows.

Though plenty of Nick stars went on to have hugely successful acting careers into adulthood, some sadly got involved in legal battles, while others lost their lives at a young age.

From Drake Bell’s notorious child endangerment charges to Aaron Carter being found dead in his bathtub, it appears fame didn’t treat all of the stars equally.

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Daily Star takes a look at where they wound up – from killing a woman to a decades-long health battle and conservatorship.

Chilling murder

Drake and Josh star Johnny Lewis was perhaps better known for his role in Sons of Anarchy – but made it as a Nickelodeon star back in the day.

But in 2012, the actor fell to his death from a high building in Los Angeles, just moments after beating his 81-year-old landlady to her own death.

The actor was 28, and found lying in a driveway in the Los Feliz neighbourhood, with his landlady Catherine Davis found dead of blunt force trauma inside the building, which had been ransacked.

Cops also found the body of a cat which had also been beaten.

The actor had only been released from jail days before, pleading no contest to assault with a deadly weapon and to burglary.

Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter commented on the incident: “It was a tragic end for an extremely talented guy, who unfortunately had lost his way. I wish I could say that I was shocked by the events last night, but I was not.”

Tragic deaths

The world of Nickelodeon has been marred by tragedy over the years, including a series of untimely deaths.

Blue’s Clues star Jansen Panettiere – brother to Nashville star Hayden – died aged just 28 in February 2023, with law enforcement officials called to his home.

The Walking Dead star’s cause of death was confirmed as heart complications, with the star diagnosed with cardiomegaly (an enlarged heart) and aortic valve complications.

Shortly before that in November 2022, singer and Nickelodeon actor Aaron Carter was found dead in his bathtub at the age of 34.

His death was ruled as an accidental overdose due to sedatives and gas he’d taken and inhaled, but his mother insisted his death should have been investigated as a crime.

She wrote on social media: “Still trying to get a real investigation for the death of my son Aaron Carter.

“I want to share these death scene photos with you all because the coroner wrote it off as an accidental drug overdose. They never investigated it as a possible crime scene because of his addiction past.”

Britney Spears feud

Jamie Lynn Spears – sister to pop princess Britney – is best known for her starring role in Nick show Zoey 101.

But she’s also been engaged in a furious feud with her sister for several years, since reportedly being named a trustee in Britney’s estate.

When Britney petitioned a court to end her conservatorship, which placed her family in control of her financially, the Oops… I Did It Again songstress said she wanted to “sue her family”.

Since then, the sisters have hit out at each other again and again – with Jamie Lynn even claiming that during their childhood, Britney locked them both in a room with a knife. Britney denied the incident ever happened.

And an open letter to her sister from Britney read: “Jamie Lynn… I don’t think your book is about me at all… I said some harsh things because you obviously hurt me by the things you are making up about me.

“Say whatever you want to say just know I do know your real heart.”

It didn’t end there. Britney went on to fume she should have “slapped [Jamie Lynn] and Mamma right across your f***ing faces”, and branded her sister “scum”.

Health battle

In March 2023, The Amanda Show star Amanda Bynes was found wandering the streets naked, before placing herself on psychiatric hold.

The actress was placed in a conservatorship of her own after struggling with her mental health and with substance abuse – with reports of her erratic behaviour starting with her bizarre Twitter rants.

Amanda branded Miley Cyrus “ugly” and told Rihanna: “Chris Brown beat you because you’re not pretty enough.”

She also begged US President Barack Obama to “fire the cop who arrested me” because she “doesn’t hit and run”.

The Easy A actress set her own trousers on fire in 2013 using a “little red gas tank”, and was forced to wash her pet dog at an off-licence after accidentally drenching it in petrol.

Numerous arrests followed, with Amanda convicted for driving under the influence and charged with two separate hit-and-runs.

Fighting to stay sober after becoming addicted to prescription drug Adderall and dabbling in cocaine and ecstasy, Amanda was eventually diagnosed with bipolar and manic depressive disorder.

In 2022, however, Amanda seemed to be on the up and her conservatorship was finally ended.

Drake Bell’s legal issues

Drake and Josh alum Drake Bell was one of the ‘next big things’ in the world of Nickelodeon – but even he couldn’t escape the curse of the doomed Hollywood child star.

With financial woes pressing heavy on him, Drake was arrested on numerous occasions: twice for driving under the influence, and then for sending ‘inappropriate’ messages to a 15-year-old when he was 31.

Drake was also accused of physical and verbal abuse by two ex-girlfriends.

Between being spotted inhaling an unknown substance from a balloon with his son in the car and then going missing and declared “endangered”, it’s fair to say Drake hasn’t been able to avoid the spotlight since his acting days.

Domestic violence arrest

The Secret World of Alex Mack star Darris Love was involved in his own controversy in December 2022, when he was arrested for allegedly striking his girlfriend during an argument on Christmas Eve.

His partner said Love “hit her in the back of the head”, but TMZ reported she “was not injured and there were no visible marks”.

The 42-year-old was released from jail after posting bail of $20,000.

And after his release, Darris went on to share a 12-minute long religious message on his Instagram, refusing to comment on the incident.

Bus crash

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iCarly’s Miranda Cosgrove was touring the country for her debut album in 2011 when her tour bus crashed in the middle of the night in a horror incident.

The accident left Miranda with a severe break in her ankle that required surgery – and a “hole in her leg” that doctors weren’t able to explain.

She admitted on the Hypochondriactor podcast: “It was so strange, because when I woke up, I had a cast on, like a soft cast, and then later I went back and they removed it.

“And then that’s when I noticed the hole. And I was asking questions like, ‘What’s this? What’s that?’ And then I was like, ‘Wait, why is there a hole in my leg?’ So they were like, ‘Oh, we didn’t do that.’”

Miranda claimed the crash “ruined her career” and cost her nearly $2.5million after being forced to cancel 25 concerts, and went on to sue the driver of the bus and the driver of the other vehicle, along with the transportation companies.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk