Jennette McCurdy is speaking out with new details about a troubling relationship she had as a teenager with a much older man, a relationship she now describes as “scary” and emotionally draining.
The old iCarly star, 33, opened up during a recent episode of the Call her daddy podcast, connecting the experience to the themes of his upcoming debut novel Half his agewhich is due to be released on January 20.
McCurdy said she was around 18 when she first formed a relationship with a man in his 30s who she met through work during her time on the Nickelodeon set.
She described how he would show her movies and music that he thought she would enjoy, even though she didn’t, and how she would pretend to like them to please him.
The dynamic was not only age-inappropriate, it also featured a sense of power imbalance, with the man already in a long-term relationship and living with his girlfriend.
“It was just exhausting,” McCurdy recalled, reflecting on how she felt stuck in a cycle that was difficult to break.
During one conversation, she highlighted how uncomfortable some encounters had become, including times where he would show up drunk and push for intimacy that conflicted with her own beliefs and upbringing, which emphasized waiting until marriage.
Looking back, she said the whole situation now seemed “scary” to her.
The relationship took place during a difficult time in McCurdy’s life, shortly before his mother’s death in 2013, adding emotional tension to an already confusing situation.
Although the romance eventually faded, McCurdy later revisited the experience while writing her novel, finding that it had sparked unresolved anger that she had not fully processed before putting it into words.
McCurdy has also spoken candidly about his past in his past work, including his best-selling memoir. I’m glad my mother diedwhere she first mentioned the relationship between age and the gap.
Her new project is expected to delve even further into how desire, power, and vulnerability intersected in this and other experiences from her youth.
By sharing these thoughts, McCurdy hopes to spark broader conversations about unhealthy relationships, power dynamics, and the emotional journey it takes to come to terms with one’s story.
As the release of her novel approaches, audiences can expect to gain insight into how she transformed difficult personal experiences into creative expression.
