If you're at all worried about any bad blood between Jennette McCurdy and the rest of the iCarly cast, it sounds like you really shouldn't be.
The Nickelodeon series is being revived on Paramount+, and while stars Miranda Cosgrove, Jerry Trainor and Nathan Kress are all returning, McCurdy has firmly said that she is not. She has retired from acting, and has even spoken about being embarrassed by her role on the beloved series.
While the show's first trailer barely even showed McCurdy in clips from the original series, it's not as if she's being completely erased. She was also very much approached to join the revival, even by her former castmates. Cosgrove tells E! News that while she's sad that McCurdy isn't a part of the show, she totally respects her decision to say no.
"We all called her separately and we really wanted her to be a part of it, but at the same time I'm happy for her because I know that she's her life taken her in a different direction and that she's really enjoying what she's doing right now," she says. "So I think we all kind of did what we were probably meant to do."
In an interview with EW, Cosgrove said that Sam's absence will definitely be addressed on screen.
"Definitely, we touch a lot on the whole relationship with Sam and where Sam's at in the pilot episode," she told the magazine. "And then we mention her a little bit throughout the season, so we'll definitely explain that on the show."
While McCurdy might not be back on the show, she has still been a part of her former castmates' lives since the show originally wrapped. Trainor tells E! that he, Cosgrove and McCurdy used to go on hikes or out to lunch together, and still keep in touch.
It was easy, then, for the group to get back together to film, especially since Cosgrove feels like a real little sister to Trainor, though sometimes that relationship gets a little too real.
"Miranda is like my real life little sister, like, she and I talk on the phone, sometimes too much," he shares. "She tells me too much stuff that I don't want to hear, frankly, about her dating life. It's pretty bad and gross. Don't tell her I said that."
As if she could hear him from a completely different Zoom room—and we promise we did not tell her he said that, and we didn't even ask about it—Cosgrove confirms that she turns to her TV brother for dating advice.
"We don't live too far from each other and we always keep up with each other and he's always trying to help me with my bad dating stories," she says. "I always call him after a bad date or after something's gone awry, and he helps me, so there's a little bit of that in the show between the characters of Carly and Spencer."
The new iCarly is made for the adults who were kids or teens when the show first aired, meaning Carly's going on dates while Freddie is divorced with a precocious stepdaughter. Spencer is still Spencer, but richer. While it's unfortunate that Sam won't be a part of the show, it's not exactly groundbreaking to imagine that two people who were best friends as teenagers are no longer joined at the hip as adults. Hopefully Sam is off living her best life, watching Carly's influencer journey from afar.
Stay tuned for more on the new iCarly from E! News.
iCarly premieres June 17 on Paramount+.