'Zoey 101' Star Says Dan Schneider Would Sit In Fitting Room While She Got Changed At Age 12
She didn't realize it was odd until years later.
Instagram / Nickelodeon Former "Zoey 101" actress Alexa Nikolas has revealed more harrowing details about Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider.
During an appearance on a recent episode of "Real Pod" with Victoria Garrick, Nikolas shared disturbing incidents during her time on the hit Nickelodeon show.
Nikolas, who was 12 during her stint on the show, spoke candidly about her experience working with Schneider, who has been accused by several former writers, actors, and crew members of exhibiting inappropriate behavior while working at Nickelodeon.
Alexa Nikolas says Dan Schneider would sit in on the wardrobe fittings for 'Zoey 101.'
When Nikolas was asked if she'd had any "off-screen interactions with Dan" that were uncomfortable, she replied that there had been one that she didn't realize was uncomfortable until years later.
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"Whenever I had wardrobe fittings, [Dan] always had to be in them," Nikolas recalled. "Thank God there was a curtain, but he was literally [sitting] on [a] chair right outside of the curtain."
The actress described the type of outfits her character, Nicole, wore on the show, which included "very short skirts" with biker shorts underneath that would have to be cut before filming because they were too long.
"I was constantly having to roll down the biker shorts that were underneath."
Nikolas said that she didn't realize how wrong it was for Schneider to be sitting in on her wardrobe fittings until a few years later while she was working as an adult on other shows, including "Mad Men" and "The Walking Dead."
"I started to realize, 'Oh, so the creator isn't in the room for the wardrobe fittings,'" she said. "And I remember them being like, 'Yeah, no. We just send them a photo, and they approve with the producers.'"
After learning that most creators of TV shows don't sit in on wardrobe fittings, Nikolas remembered thinking it was "weird" since Schneider would routinely sit in on hers.
"[It was] to the point where he would sit in the chair, and I would come out and do a little spin," she described.
"[Schneider] would look at the wardrobe artist and say, 'Can I have the Polaroids?'" Nikolas said, referring to the photos taken of her in her character's clothes.
The actress went on to accuse Schneider of "putting children in vulnerable situations" during his time at Nickelodeon.
Nikolas has previously spoken out against Schneider's 'controlling' and 'disgusting' behavior.
In August 2022, Nikolas and other protestors gathered outside Nickelodeon's animation studio in Burbank, California to bring awareness to the safety of child stars working for the network.
In a live stream of the protest shared to her Instagram, Nikolas said, "I did not feel protected at Nickelodeon as a child, personally. I'm demanding that Nickelodeon starts protecting children and not predators."
During the protest, she called Schneider "the creator of childhood trauma."
“He played a huge role in my personal childhood trauma. I did not feel safe around Dan Schneider while I was working at Nickelodeon,” Nikolas alleged.
“Every time he came on set, my body got extremely tense, and later on in Season 2, he yelled at me, made me cry in a room, actually at Nickelodeon.”
Schneider eventually exited Nickelodeon of his own volition in 2018 following an investigation by its parent company, ViacomCBS.
The investigation reportedly found no evidence of sexual misconduct by Schneider, despite accusations by several who "viewed him as verbally abusive."
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.