Famous actors often began their careers in children’s TV series, especially in networks such as Nickelodeon and Disney Channel. Quite a few current famous personalities have followed this path, for example, Euphoria and the star of the Spider-Man trilogy Zendaya, whose big breakthrough in Disney’s Shake It Up happened together with a colleague in the film Bella Thorne. Although, according to Thorne, not everything was as rosy as she recently said that she was once almost fired for being seen in a separate bathing suit on the beach.
In a new episode of Emily Ratajkowski’s podcast High Low with EmRata, the former Disney Channel star talked about working in the industry at a young age, and she definitely had some unpleasant falls that accompanied the ups. And because of her public image, she was apparently advised not to engage in non-controversial activities that other girls her age did, such as wearing a bikini at 14, which allegedly almost cost the actress her job playing CeCe Shake It Off. According to her:
I was almost fired from the Disney Channel once because I was 14 and I was wearing a deuce on the beach. This stylist I was hanging out with put this chain on me, similar to a body chain, I do not know. I don’t care. There was a fan, they took a picture of me on the beach, I was almost fired. . . . Blaming me and forcing Disney to fire me, and obviously Disney didn’t fire me, but they were also saying, “Hey, we’re getting a lot of heat because of this.” It annoys everyone because you’re in a bikini on the beach. So she needs to make sure that the next time she goes to the beach, she will come out in shorts and a loose T-shirt.”
Having to maintain a certain image to fit the job definitely causes stress, especially at an age when you just want to match peers away from the sound scenes of TV. It seems that complaints from the powerful could have come not only from Disney executives, but regardless of who complained, the network apparently cracked down on these types of images. Bella Thorne has talked about being called a “whore” and other similar embarrassing names, but now she can be whatever she wants to be.
This is definitely not the first time Bella Thorne has talked about her days at Disney. In 2021, the “American Horror Stories” actress discussed what it was like to be venomous against Zendaya in “Shake It Up”, and how because of this they began to gradually get closer only in the second and third seasons of the series. Thorne still has nothing but love for the Emmy Award winner, knowing that there is nothing good about pitting talented and successful women against each other.
Meanwhile, Thorne isn’t the only former Disney star recently to talk about the difficulties of being a child star. Selena Gomez said that she was upset because after the end of “Wizards of Waverly Place” she was called a “Disney child”, and how this prevented her from finding another job. Although everything may look great on camera, it seems that not everything was so good behind the scenes, but you just need to deal with it.
Bella Thorne is currently far from those Disney days, as some of her fashion choices in 2022 proved, and she’s still hoping for a role in Deadpool 3. However, it is assumed that if she gets a role in this Marvel movie, she will win. she will not be harangued because of her beach accessories, and that she will not be forced to participate in the MCU’s artificial rivalry with Zendaya.
