Jennette McCurdy ‘Scared’ of Being Sucked Back Into Celebrity Culture

While appearing on Wednesday’s episode of “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” the “iCarly” alum — who has been promoting her memoir, “I’m Glad My Mom Died” — spoke candidly about her concerns over getting “caught up in the whirlwind of showbiz” again, and explained why she’s confident she won’t let that happen.

Towards the end of the interview, Trevor Noah pointed out how McCurdy’s post-acting career consists of her being “behind the camera,” including writing and directing, as well as hosting a podcast.

After noting how the entertainment world was “so toxic” to McCurdy, but she’s now “come back in a different way,” Noah asked, “Do you ever worry that it may suck you back in? And how do you prevent yourself from going back into that space of feeling like you’re defined by everything you hated once?”

“I have been scared of that,” McCurdy, 30, replied, after pointing out how much she “respect[s]” Noah. “There have been a few times when I have done some press that shall not be named where it’s so bizarre because I’m, like, hearing the pre-roll of, you know, they show, like, the clip of from the past or whatever and it’s so dramatic.”

“It’s like, ‘McCurdy vanished from the spotlight after her traumatic childhood with the devastation.’ It’s like, ‘Geez, can we calm down?'” she continued, adding how she “walked out to this, like, cold, domineering kind of set” in which the journalist was wearing “three inches of makeup” on his face.

The former actress said since it’s “easy to lose sight of reality in these environments,” she tries “to keep myself grounded and stay on top of therapy and being in touch with things that are really good touchstones and grounding tools for me.”

“I do not want to get lost in it,” she admitted, adding, “But also, I will say, I trust that I won’t. I don’t think I had the tools before to not get lost in it and to not feel sort of caught up in the whirlwind of showbiz, but now I feel like, you know what? There are some elements that are cool about it — like this — and then, there are some that aren’t and that’s fine. I can use my own discernment and just be grateful for the good experiences.”

McCurdy famously starred as Sam Puckett in “iCarly,” which ran from 2007 to 2012. She then reprised her role in the “iCarly”-“Victorious” spinoff “Sam & Cat” alongside Ariana Grande.

In March 2021, the Nickelodeon alum opened up about her decision to step away from acting, revealing she quit years ago. McCurdy described her career as “hellish,” sharing that she was “deeply unhappy” and “resented” her life at the peak of her “iCarly” fame.

A huge factor in her decision to leave acting was the main reason she got into acting in the first place: her mother, Deborah, who had wanted to be an actor herself, while McCurdy was against the idea from the start.

McCurdy has been open about her complicated relationship with her late mom — who passed away from breast cancer in 2013 — which allegedly consisted of emotional and physical abuse, including her mom “introducing” her to anorexia through calorie restriction.

McCurdy’s experience and tumultuous childhood became the subject of her one-woman dark comedy play entitled, “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” and ultimately her now-bestselling memoir of the same name, which she has been promoting for over the past month.

Throughout the promotional tour, the former child star has shared harrowing details about her allegedly abusive relationship with her mother and difficult upbringing.

Last week, McCurdy appeared on the season premiere of “Red Table Talk,” in which she opened up about the “psychological marriage” between her and her mom as well as their dynamic after McCurdy had moved out to live on her own for the first time.

Click here to see what she had to say as well as more revelations from the episode.