From dancer to Nickelodeon star, Jayden Bartels has come a long way!
Before nabbing her role as Presley — alongside real-life BFF Jules LeBlanc — on the Nickelodeon series Side Hustle, the young star made a name for herself as a dancer. Early on in her career, Jayden started going viral for her creative dance videos before kicking off a music career. Then, the opportunities for acting roles started to arise.
“The moment I knew the industry was for me was after I took my first musical theater class at 8-and-a-half,” the Internet personality told 1883 Magazine in January 2020. “I just loved it and wanted to perform immediately. I can’t really put my finger on one thing that happened to me that was a ‘big break,’ it was a slow buildup of hard work and dedication to my craft.”
Once her viral videos gave her a foot in the door, Jayden made her TV debut on a show called Clique Wars. Then, she started to guest star on a bunch of shows before nabbing a recurring role as Peyton in Coop and Cami Ask the World. Once that show came to an end, she went on to Nickelodeon for shows like The Group Chat and Side Hustle — which came to an end in June 2022 after two seasons.
“This show has completely taken our friendship to the next level. We somehow every month just get closer and closer,” Jayden said of her BFF Jules while chatting with HollywoodLife in November 2020. “We always find something to connect about deeper, and the show has just given us so many opportunities to just connect each other deeper. … It has really just shown us how much we love each other and love being around each other.”
Premiering in November 2020, the show follows two best friends who accidentally destroy their neighbor’s boat. In an effort to pay him back, the girls start to take all the odd jobs offered to them in the fictional KidDING! app. Not only does Jayden get a chance to show off her acting skills throughout the series, but the songstress makes her musical talents known as well.
“They do a lot more performances,” Jayden teased to HollywoodLife in March 2021. “They’re starting to do music a lot more, which I really like. It’s actually fun because on set Jules and I love to sing and dance, so the fact that they’re writing it in is really exciting.”
Scroll through our gallery for everything you need to know about the budding star!
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