Drake Bell finds inspiration in son Wyatt, 3, to share his past abuse: ‘I chose to be stronger for him’

Drake Bell credits his three-year-old son Jeremy Drake Bell (now named ‘Wyatt’) for giving him the courage to go public about being molested at age 14, which he first revealed two months ago in Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV.

‘I had just been going through so much and things were spiraling out of control personally and mentally. And I finally found myself saying, “There’s two roads you can take here.” I’d just had a son,’ the 37-year-old former child star recalled on TODAY.

‘And what’s the story that he’s going to get? Or is somebody else going to tell him my story, or am I going to be around to tell him and share my story? So I knew something had to change. I don’t think so much that I wanted my son to be proud of me, but not wanting someone else to have to tell him about his father. I could’ve either allowed this to destroy me or make me stronger for him.’

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Drake (born Jared) recalled a touching moment he just shared with little Wyatt at his third birthday party in April as the toddler put on temporary tattoos to mimic his real ink.

‘”Look, Dada. I want to be just like you,”‘ Bell said wiping away tears.

Drake Bell credits his three-year-old son Jeremy Drake Bell (now named ‘Wyatt’) for giving him the courage to go public about being molested at age 14, which he first revealed two months ago in Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV (pictured in 2023)

The 37-year-old former child star recalled on TODAY: ‘I had just been going through so much and things were spiraling out of control personally and mentally. And I finally found myself saying, “There’s two roads you can take here.” I’d just had a son’

‘It just resonates. These decisions are no longer for myself. The decisions that I make in my life, moving forward, are no longer for me.’

The I Kind of Relate singer continued: ‘My hope is that he’ll be able to say, “Yeah, my dad did go through that. Yeah, that did happen to my dad. Yeah, my dad did do that. But the man I’ve known my whole life and the man that I know today is a hero to me. And the fact that he’s been able to get through those things has helped me be able to face the world and not let it tear me down.”‘

Drake’s estranged wife of four years – Janet Von Schmeling – filed for divorce from him 13 months ago (the same month he entered rehab) following a seven-month separation.

In 2003, Bell was the unidentified minor who came forward about being molested by dialogue coach Brian Peck while starring in Nickelodeon sitcoms The Amanda Show and later Drake & Josh.

The 63-year-old registered sex offender served 16 months in prison in 2004-2005 after being arrested on 11 charges — including sodomy, lewd act upon a child 14 or 15 by a person 10 years older, and oral copulation by anesthesia or controlled substance.

‘Am I going to make it out of this room [alive]?’ The Masked Singer Mexico contestant recalled thinking.

‘The things that were happening to me were so — it’s a big word — but gruesome. Not only is it really difficult to speak about and to put into words, but I’m also not really in an environment where I think [the documentary producers] would want to put that on national television. It’s too graphic.’

During the trial, Brian – who was hired by the Disney Channel after prison – enlisted 41 people to write letters of support urging the judge to give him probation including Alan Thicke, James Marsden, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle.

He continued: ‘And what’s the story that he’s going to get? Or is somebody else going to tell him my story, or am I going to be around to tell him and share my story? So I knew something had to change. I don’t think so much that I wanted my son to be proud of me, but not wanting someone else to have to tell him about his father. I could’ve either allowed this to destroy me or make me stronger for him’

Drake (born Jared) recalled a touching moment he just shared with little Wyatt at his third birthday party in April as the toddler put on temporary tattoos to mimic his real ink 

Wiping away tears, Bell said: ‘”Look, Dada. I want to be just like you.” It just resonates. These decisions are no longer for myself. The decisions that I make in my life, moving forward, are no longer for me’

The I Kind of Relate singer continued: ‘My hope is that he’ll be able to say, “Yeah, my dad did go through that. Yeah, that did happen to my dad. Yeah, my dad did do that. But the man I’ve known my whole life and the man that I know today is a hero to me. And the fact that he’s been able to get through those things has helped me be able to face the world and not let it tear me down”‘

Drake’s estranged wife of four years – Janet Von Schmeling (pictured in 2022) – filed for divorce from him 13 months ago (the same month he entered rehab) following a seven-month separation

In 2003, Bell was the unidentified minor who came forward about being molested by dialogue coach Brian Peck (pictured in 2012) while starring in Nickelodeon sitcoms The Amanda Show and later Drake & Josh

The 63-year-old registered sex offender served 16 months in prison in 2004-2005 after being arrested on 11 charges — including sodomy, lewd act upon a child 14 or 15 by a person 10 years older, and oral copulation by anesthesia or controlled substance (pictured in 2014)

The Masked Singer Mexico contestant recalled thinking: ‘Am I going to make it out of this room [alive]?’ 

Investigative Discovery’s five-part docuseries described Peck as ‘very much one of the cogs in the Dan Schneider machine’ as the Nickelodeon executive producer oversaw the crew accused of abuse, sexism, racism and inappropriate behavior on set.

The 58-year-old Emmy nominee – who left Nickelodeon in 2018 – filed a defamation lawsuit on May 1 against the creators Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz, Warner Bros. Discovery, Maxine Productions, Sony Pictures Television, and more for falsely implying he sexually abused child actors who worked on his shows.

Unfortunately, Drake continued the cycle of abuse by pleading guilty in 2021 to ‘attempted endangering [of] children and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.’

Bell was sentenced to two years of probation and 200 hours of community service in 2021 after a 19-year-old woman accused him of grooming her from ages 12-15 and sexually assaulting her at his 2017 Cleveland concert.

Drake – who was charged with DUIs in 2010 and 2016 – said he only took the plea deal to end the scandal quickly, and claimed he didn’t know her age and denied ever sending her sexual photos or engaging in sexual activity.

‘I think that there is a picture that a lot of people are painting of a cycle of abuse — “Oh, well, he did to someone else what has been done to him,”‘ Bell scoffed.

‘But it’s a very difficult parallel to make between that and what I endured at 14 years old, the physical abuse that I went through, the things that [Peck] had done to me over and over and over, and how dark it got.’

Investigative Discovery’s five-part docuseries described Peck as ‘very much one of the cogs in the Dan Schneider machine’ as the Nickelodeon executive producer oversaw the crew accused of abuse, sexism, racism and inappropriate behavior on set 

The 58-year-old Emmy nominee (R) – who left Nickelodeon in 2018 – filed a defamation lawsuit on May 1 against the creators and production companies for falsely implying he sexually abused child actors who worked on his shows 

Unfortunately, Drake continued the cycle of abuse by pleading guilty in 2021 to ‘attempted endangering [of] children and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles’

Bell was sentenced to two years of probation and 200 hours of community service in 2021 after a 19-year-old woman accused him of grooming her from ages 12-15 and sexually assaulting her at his 2017 Cleveland concert 

Drake – who was charged with DUIs in 2010 and 2016 – said he only took the plea deal to end the scandal quickly, and claimed he didn’t know her age and denied ever sending her sexual photos or engaging in sexual activity

Bell scoffed: ‘I think that there is a picture that a lot of people are painting of a cycle of abuse — “Oh, well, he did to someone else what has been done to him.” But it’s a very difficult parallel to make between that and what I endured at 14 years old, the physical abuse that I went through, the things that [Peck] had done to me over and over and over, and how dark it got’

The Mexico-based singer – who gets 555K monthly listeners on Spotify – dropped his new single Hollywouldn’t on May 10, he’ll soon film a musical called Sálvame, perform some tour dates, and he’s been writing his memoir I Found A Way since last July

Drake continued: ‘I [pleaded] guilty to some text messages with somebody that I didn’t know, someone I wasn’t aware of their age. It was stupid. It was something I shouldn’t have done. I should never have engaged with anybody online, even if I knew what their age was. [It] absolutely should not have happened.’

Bell also denied all the verbal and physical abuse allegations in 2020 from his ex-girlfriend Melissa Lingafelt, who also accused him on TikTok of ‘having inappropriate conversations online with underage girls.’

The Mexico-based singer – who gets 555K monthly listeners on Spotify – dropped his new single Hollywouldn’t on May 10, he’ll soon film a musical called Sálvame, perform some tour dates, and he’s been writing his memoir I Found A Way since last July.