Bella Thorne reveals why Disney years with Zendaya ‘got pretty bad’

Bella Thorne has opened up about the challenges she and Zendaya faced while starring on Disney Channel’s Shake It Up.

Speaking on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Thorne reflected on her time working alongside Zendaya on the hit series, which aired from 2010 to 2013. She revealed that the two actresses were often pitted against each other before eventually having an honest conversation that strengthened their relationship.

“It got pretty bad. I think it got to a point where when we were on our Good Luck Charlie crossover, we escaped to another set in the middle of a live taping, which is really ballsy, badass and rebellious. Very rebellious,” she said.

Bella Thorne later clarified that they had not actually “escaped” but had quietly slipped away between scenes after realizing they had time before returning to the set.

“We knew that we had three scenes until we were up again. And we were just like, ‘Let’s just go talk.’ And we did,” she explained.

According to Thorne, the private conversation allowed both actresses to openly discuss the pressures they had been experiencing and how they felt they were being placed in competition with one another.

“We got into it, hashed it out, and it was so beautiful,” she said. “It was my first experience woman to woman, girl to girl, where you actually can speak and you can both be heard about the different things you’ve been experiencing and what people are saying and how they’re trying to do this to you, and you can walk out of there seeing each other.”

In Shake It Up, Bella Thorne played CeCe Jones opposite Zendaya’s Rocky Blue. The pair also appeared together in the 2011 Good Luck Charlie crossover episode, “Charlie Shakes It Up.”