Drake Bell Says He Has 'Beautiful Memories' from “Drake & Josh” Despite 'Going Through a Lot'

The actor also recalled the magical moment when he first worked with Josh Peck on 'The Amanda Show', as he remembers thinking, "Did I manifest this?"

Drake Bell undoubtedly has a complicated relationship with Nickelodeon, but he still has love in his heart for Drake & Josh.

The 37-year-old actor, who recently shared that he was sexually assaulted for years by a Nickelodeon dialogue coach, told Access Hollywood in a new interview that he has "beautiful memories" from his time leading the sitcom in 2004 to 2007 alongside Josh Peck.

Though "it was a dark experience personally and I was going through a lot," Bell said, "Whenever I go back and I look back – you know people ask me, ‘Are you able to watch Drake & Josh?’ And I watch it with happiness and joy.”

His costar was a particularly bright light for him, he said, as he reflected on his first interactions with Josh, 37, whom he met when they both worked on The Amanda Show.

Related: Drake Bell Recalls 'Scary' Moment of 'Not Recognizing Myself' Before Coming Forward with Sex Abuse (Exclusive)

Recalling a "sketch called 'Tony Pajamas' where we were paired up," Bell said his and Josh's first time working together was very memorable.

"I remember it so fondly, doing that scene the first time, and looking at him, and he’s ad-libbing and his comedic timing is so brilliant, and I remember looking at him and going, ‘Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me,'" Bell recalled. "And this was before Drake & Josh or any thought of us being paired up."

"I just looked and everything went silent. I’m looking at this guy, I go, ‘You’re my Jerry Lewis. You’re my Lou Costello. Oh my gosh. Are you kidding me? Did I manifest this?’"

Though Bell and Josh have not worked together since Drake & Josh's conclusion in 2007, they remain in each other's lives. In recent months, Josh has been a support for Bell in light of his revelations about Brian Peck, the former dialogue coach who spent 16 months in prison for sexually abusing Bell when he was a minor. (Brian has no relation to Josh despite having the same last name,)

Following the release of Quiet on Set, Josh "reached out" privately to his former costar, as Bell revealed in a TikTok video.

"It's been very sensitive," Bell said. "But he has reached out to talk with me and help me work through this and he's been really great."

Josh later shared a statement about the ID docuseries, praising Bell and the other Nickelodeon alums for their bravery after he "took a few days to process it."

Related: Miranda Cosgrove Would 'Love' to Play Josh Peck's Sibling Again — They've Even 'Talked' It Over (Exclusive)

Bell said on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast that Josh didn't know the "specifics" of his abuse but had suspected something wasn't right.

"I think that when he just knew how sensitive this was for me, and after of course watching the documentary, he learned of so much that I had gone through," Bell said. "I think that he was just so sensitive and made sure to reach out to me privately rather than just going straight to social media or something."

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Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV is now streaming on Max and Discovery+.

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