Jennette McCurdy has opened up about the warning signs she overlooked while being involved with a man who was twice her age during her teenage years.
The iCarly actress recently appeared on the Call Me Daddy podcast to discuss her upcoming novel, Half His Age, a story inspired by her own life experiences. The book is set to be released worldwide later this month.
At 33, McCurdy wrote this fictional tale drawing from her own past when she had a relationship with an older man she encountered ‘through work’ at around the age of 18.
Reflecting on that time, McCurdy remembered feeling that she was ‘mature,’ which led her to justify the age difference.
During her conversation with Call Me Daddy host Alex Cooper, she said: “I remember thinking like, ‘Oh yeah, there’s just something about me that’s a little different. Like, I’m special’. That’s what it felt like for me. I’m special, I can connect with older people, younger people aren’t on my wavelength.”
McCurdy mentioned that the unnamed man used her perceived maturity as a rationale for their significant age gap.
“It was, you know, ‘You’re so mature. I can’t talk to anyone this way. I can’t believe how smart you are’,” she recounted from her past experiences as a former Nickelodeon star.
She further commented: “Like, are you kidding me? I was such an idiot. I’m so embarrassed. Also, how humiliating that he thought that was smart or even used being smart as a manipulation tactic because how stupid of him.”
Host Cooper agreed with McCurdy that calling someone mature in such a context is a ‘red flag.’ McCurdy added that her ex-partner made her feel as though she wielded all the control in their relationship.
“That it was ultimately my choice. That it was ultimately up to me. That ultimately, I was the one in charge. And I think if you feel really powerless, you’ll take that bait,” she explained.
She continued, “You know, you’ll take that, and you’ll go, ‘Okay, I really want that feeling of power even though my gut kind of knows this isn’t that, I’ll take what you’re saying, and I’ll try to run with it, and I’ll try to make it into some semblance of power’. If you’re that desperate for it, you will take the bait. And I think I did.”
Over time, McCurdy began to sense a lack of power within the relationship, which eventually led her to end things following her mother’s death in 2013.
“Can you imagine now being with like a [teenager]? Creepy,” she remarked.