Before becoming one of the most renowned actresses of today, Zendaya began her career with baby steps. From modeling to being a backup dancer, she did all she could to find her way into the limelight. Her career took off after she got selected to play the lead role in Disney’s Shake It Up alongside Bella Thorne.
However, just like any other kids’ show, Shake It Up also had its controversies. One of these included an apparent feud between Zendaya and Bella Thorne. In fact, it took the two actresses two seasons before they could themselves friends. As it turns out, the duo was allegedly pitted against each other by those around them.
Did Disney Pit Zendaya Against Bella Thorne?
In an interview with US Weekly, Bella Thorne opened up about how she and Zendaya were constantly made to battle it out with each other despite the fact that they didn’t want to. She stated that it took them a couple of years before they could begin their life-long friendship.
“We had to deal with that so much on Shake It Up. It’s like we said [in] a couple interviews when we were younger, how we explained how in the first season we weren’t friends and it took us those other two seasons of becoming so close. [It was hard] not having someone pitted against you [before] and then all of a sudden, now everyone is pitting you against each other. That fed into our heads. It made us not [be] friends in that first season.”
In a different interview, this time with J-14, Thorne stated that they both wanted to love each other and be friends but the constant meddling did not let that happen.
“We wanted to love each other, but yet we were constantly being put against each other. It was, ‘Who’s better at this?’ and ‘Who’s better at that?’”
It didn’t help that the two actresses received drastically different responses to their debut music albums. On one hand, the release of Thorne’s 11-song debut album was canceled and later released as an EP. On the other hand, Zendaya’s debut album was met with critical acclaim and much success.
The fact that Thorne and Zendaya were just teenagers in Shake It Up, just goes on to prove how problematic it was to pit them against each other.
Zendaya and Bella Thorne Overcame the Competition
It looks like while the studios might have tried to pit them against each other, it did not work for long. Today, Zendaya and Thorne are still good friends. Talking to US Weekly, the Blended actress stated,
“Zendaya’s amazing. I f**king love her. She’s always been amazing and she’s always going to be amazing. I’m just happy that people see that. She’s getting the recognition she deserves. That just makes me so happy. I feel like when people put us against each other, it’s just like…’Why are you doing this? Is it just because we’re women?’”
Zendaya also reciprocates Thorne’s love and she once told Seventeen that the two still call/text each other.
After their Disney stint, both actresses went on to achieve great heights in their careers. Zendaya has become a worldwide sensation thanks to projects like Euphoria and Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man franchise. As for Thorne, she, too, went on to star in multiple movies like The Duff, The Babysitter, I Still See You, and so much more. She also had her own Freeform series called Famous in Love. Apart from this, she directed an adult film titled, Her & Him, which got her a Visionary Award at the 2nd P*rnhub Awards.
You can stream Shake It Up on Disney+.
Source: US Weekly
