Drake Bell Breaks Silence on ‘Drake & Josh’ Royalties—Fans Stunned by the Truth Behind His Paychecks
Ever look at the nostalgia-soaked reruns of Drake & Josh and think—wow, those guys must be drowning in dollar bills, sipping oat milk lattes somewhere in Malibu? Me too. But brace yourself, because Drake Bell has just blown up that entire Hollywood fantasy, and, honestly, my jaw hit the floor harder than Josh tumbling down those sitcom stairs. Here’s the real shocker: while we’re busy bingeing classic episodes on Netflix, Drake’s over there wondering how to pay his rent. Wild, right? Turns out, the glitz, glamour, and residual checks are more smoke and mirrors than actual cash in the bank. Dive in with me as we unravel the mind-bending truth behind one of childhood TV’s biggest misconceptions—and prepare to question everything you thought you knew about TV stardom. LEARN MORE
Drake Bell has revealed the shocking amount he gets from residuals for his hit Nickelodeon show Drake & Josh.
For a show like Drake & Josh, which was the cornerstone for so many of our childhoods, it’s easy to think that those involved would still be rolling in that TV money, never having to work again.
According to Bell, that couldn’t be further from the truth as he has opened up about just how much – or how little – he has in his bank account, despite networks still show reruns of the show to this day.
The show ran for four seasons on Nickelodeon, ending in 2007 and was headed up by Bell and co-stars Josh Peck and Miranda Cosgrove.
Cosgrove went on to have her own show, iCarly, where Bell features in multiple cameos. But despite the fact that everyone thinks because you’re on TV you must be set for life, Bell has spoken out on that misconception.
Drake Bell has revealed the amount he gets from residuals from the hit Nickelodeon show(Young Hollywood / Contributor
Speaking on a 2 July episode of the Unplanned podcast, Bell said: “The perception of the world has always been this way, ‘Oh you made a Folgers coffee commercial, you must live in a mansion in Hollywood. I saw you on TV. You’re rich.’
“And that’s far from the case. Which is the bummer for most of us on Nickelodeon, we don’t get residuals for our shows.”
With shows like Drake & Josh, they see many guest stars walk onto to their studio to join in on the fun, but Bell says these guest stars often get more return than he does.
“There’s people who said two lines on one episode that still get checks in the mail. “Josh and I, not a dime.”
He went on: “Everyone in television gets paid in residuals. Everyone. That’s how you make the majority of your money. You want to get to 100 episodes so that you can get into syndication. And then you want to get into syndication cause that’s how you make your residual money.
“Everyone else who’s ever worked on a television show gets money when their shows air and when their show is played.
“We have…there’s nothing.”
Drake & Josh ran for four seasons and ended in 2007 (Frank Micelotta / Staff / Getty)
Despite the fact the beloved show has managed to find a place on streaming platforms like Netflix, for Bell, the numbers still aren’t adding up.
“There’s three channels doing Drake & Josh marathons.
“Netflix just bought it. It’s top ten on Netflix, and I gotta figure out how to pay my rent this month. People don’t understand how the business side of this works. They just see what the perception is on social media and see all the glitz and the glamour of Hollywood.”
Bell isn’t the only star to ever open up about the reality of their paycheques with stars like Jennifer Lawrence, Jonah Hill and Pete Davidson, having also been very candid over the years.
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