Drake Bell appreciated Josh Peck reaching out privately after Quiet on Set documentary

Drake Bell appreciated his former Drake & Josh co-star Josh Peck reaching out to him privately after he identified himself as a sexual abuse victim on the docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.

In the bombshell documentary, the 37-year-old actor identified himself as the unnamed minor in a 2003 sexual abuse case against Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck. Drake claimed that the abuse occurred while he was filming The Amanda Show aged 15.

On Tuesday's episode of the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, Drake told host Amanda Hirsh that he appreciated his Amanda Show and Drake & Josh co-star communicating with him privately before releasing a public statement.

"Josh worked on The Amanda Show, so he saw and knew what was going on," he said of Josh (no relation to Brian). "I appreciate that he reached out to me privately and didn't go straight to the media. Because he was there with me and saw what I was going through.

"I don't think he knew specifics but there were people who worked on the show that knew who it was and things like that. He just knew how sensitive this was for me and after watching the documentary he learned of so much that I'd gone through that I think that he was just so sensitive and made sure to reach out to me privately rather than just going to straight to social media or something."

In late March, Drake asked his fans in a TikTok video to "take it a little easy" on Josh for not speaking out publicly about the docuseries, revealing they had spoken privately. Josh issued a statement on social media the following day praising everyone who spoke out about the alleged abuse at Nickelodeon.

Elsewhere on the podcast, Drake was asked if he had any regrets about coming forward.

"No, it's been a really freeing experience and like I said, it's very overwhelming and it's an emotional roller coaster but I'm able to start processing and dealing with things I've kept inside for so many years," he replied.

Brian Peck was convicted of two sex offences with a minor in 2004 and sentenced to 16 months in prison.