By now, it’s no secret that Jennette McCurdy will not be reprising her role as Sam Puckett in the upcoming iCarly reboot. But how do they plan to address her absence?
Prior to the show’s June 2021 premiere, Miranda Cosgrove assured fans that all questions were answered in the first episode.
“We touch a lot on the whole relationship with Sam and where Sam’s at in the pilot episode,” the actress told Entertainment Weekly in June 2021, just ahead of the show’s premiere. “And then we mention her a little bit throughout the season, so we’ll definitely explain that on the show.”
When news that the fan-favorite Nickelodeon series would be returning to TV first broke in December 2020, it was announced that Miranda along with Nathan Kress and Jerry Trainor would be returning as Carly Shay, Freddie Benson and Spencer Shay, respectively. When Jennette wasn’t named on the cast list, fans wondered why she decided to forgo the reboot. Nathan addressed these questions on a February 2021 episode of his “RadioActive Dads” podcast.
“It doesn’t look like Jennette’s gonna be in the reboot of the show, at least for the first season,” he said. “I don’t think anyone totally knows [why]. I know there’s a lot of theories … I don’t personally know exactly. I talked with her a little bit. I think it’s just a personal decision and where she’s at and what she wants to do.”
While the actress hasn’t spoken out about iCarly specifically, she has opened up about her decision to quit acting.
“I quit a few years ago because I initially didn’t want to do it,” she explained on a March 2021 episode of her “Empty Inside” podcast. “I ultimately quit after my mom passed away because with her death kind of died a lot of her ideas for my life, and that was its own journey, and a difficult one for sure.”
As for who’s taking over for Sam as Carly’s BFF in the iCarly reboot? Enter Laci Mosley, who’ll play the role of Harper. “We have a very fun relationship where I kind of goad her into things and she slowly manipulates me into her schemes,” Laci told EW about what fans can expect from Carly and Harper’s friendship. The actress also described her character as a “messy queen.”
Despite the absence of Jennette in the show, it seems like there’s no bad blood between her and the iCarly cast. In fact, they’ve all spoken out about her departure from the series. Scroll through our gallery to find out what they’ve said, and how iCarly plans to talk about Sam and Carly’s friendship.
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