Jennette McCurdy is speaking her truth. The former child star sat down for an interview Wednesday (Aug. 10) all about her new memoir and her working relationship with former co-star Ariana Grande.
Speaking to Nightline about her book I’m Glad My Mom Died, McCurdy revisited the years she spent working alongside Grande on the short-lived Nickelodeon spin-off Sam and Cat, which happened to be airing right as the pop singer shot to superstardom with her 2013 debut album Yours Truly.
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“You literally wrote, ‘I frequently made the mistake of comparing my career to Ariana’s,’” host Juju Chang read directly from McCurdy’s book. “And being jealous of everything — being jealous of her childhood, jealous of a music career that you didn’t even want.”
“Sure,” the former iCarly star responded with a chuckle. “I was jealous specifically that she played charades with Tom Hanks. That’s what got me. Charades with Tom Hanks! But I was so young at the time. and I think it’s really hard to not compare yourself to somebody at that age, when you’re in an environment around them all the time. So I made that mistake repeatedly. And I’m glad to be at a place now where I wouldn’t trade positions with somebody.”
In the book, the now-30-year-old specifically recounts a time when she spent an episode on set acting opposite a box after the sitcom’s writers had to create a scenario where Grande’s character was stuck inside the inanimate object so she could go perform at the Grammy Awards.
Watch McCurdy’s full Nightline interview below.