Former Disney Channel child actress Bella Thorne is ready to speak out about the rivalry between her and Shake It Up co-star Zendaya.
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While appearing on the Call Her Daddy podcast this week, Thorne reflected on starring opposite Zendaya on the show.
“With women it’s like, ‘We have to make you all beg for one spot … if you can beat each other down and scrap to whatever extent we’re asking you two [and] eat yourselves alive while we have all these spots but for women, it’s just one of you…’” Thorne explained.
She then noted, “The patriarchy has been doing it since the beginning of time. You go back and we were 12! What’s wrong with you? We are supposed to be best friends. We play best friends. It got pretty bad.”
Despite the rivalry and constant competitiveness, Thorne said she and Zendaya now get along.
“It got to a point where when we were on our Good Luck Charlie crossover, we escaped to another set in the middle of live taping — which is really ballsy, badass and rebellious,” she continued. “We snuck out. We knew we had three scenes until we were up again and we like just went to talk.”
Thorne recalled she and her co-star hashing it out, referring to the situation as “beautiful.”
“It was my first experience — woman to woman, girl to girl — where you actually can speak,” she noted.
Thorne referred to the conversation as “one of the most genuine girl-on-girl talks.”
Shake It Up ran from 2010 to 2013. Starring alongside Zendaya and Thorne on the show were David Cleveland, Caroline Sunshine, and Adam Irigoyen.
Zendaya Previously Opened Up About Her ‘Complicated Relationship’ With Child Acting
During a 2025 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Zendaya opened up about her struggles with child acting.
“I’ve seen it be detrimental to people,” she shared. “I wouldn’t change it, but there are things that I wish I lived out privately, you know? Because you’re figuring out who you are in front of the world.”
She continued by pointing out, ” And you’re like, ‘I’m trying to do this right. I want to make everyone happy, but I don’t really know who I am yet. I have no idea what I’m doing.
However, despite her child acting views, Zendaya said she was “so grateful” for how her career turned out.