Bella Thorne says Disney pitted her against Zendaya during 'Shake It Up' days

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Bella Thorne opened up about the challenges she and Zendaya faced while starring together on Disney Channel's 'Shake It Up', claiming they were pushed into competition despite playing best friends on screen.

During the latest episode of the 'Call Her Daddy' podcast, Thorne recalled how the pressure surrounding their Disney careers affected their friendship. She said an honest conversation between them helped repair their bond as they navigated growing up in the spotlight.

Bella Thorne recalls Disney rivalry during 'Shake It Up' years

Thorne said she believes she and Zendaya were aggressively pitted against each other during the height of their Disney careers. The pair became household names while playing CeCe Jones and Rocky Blue on 'Shake It Up', which ran for three seasons and 75 episodes from 2010 to 2013.

"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…' The patriarchy has been doing it since the beginning of time," she said.

Reflecting on their ages at the time, Thorne added, "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.

According to Thorne, the situation reached a point where she and Zendaya secretly left the set during a live taping of their 'Good Luck Charlie' crossover episode to have a private conversation.

"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 rebellious. We snuck out. We knew we had three scenes until we were up again and we like just went to talk," she recalled.

Thorne said the conversation allowed them to openly discuss their experiences and understand the pressure they were facing.

"We got into it, hashed it out, and it was so beautiful. It was my first experience — woman to woman, girl to girl — where you actually can speak. You can both be heard about the different things you've been experiencing and what people are saying and how they're trying to do this to you," she said

Zendaya and Bella Thorne reflect on childhood fame challenges

Zendaya has also spoken about the impact of becoming a child actor and growing up in the public eye. During The Hollywood Reporter's Actress Roundtable last year, she reflected on her early career and described having a "complicated relationship with the idea of child acting."

"I've seen it be detrimental to people," she said, adding, "I wouldn't change it, but there are things that I wish I lived out privately, you know?"

Zendaya explained that growing up in the public eye meant she was "figuring out who you are in front of the world, while trying to make everyone happy without fully knowing herself."

Despite those challenges, she said she remains "so grateful" for how her career turned out. Following 'Shake It Up', she starred in 'KC Undercover' from 2015 to 2018 before transitioning into films, including 'The Greatest Showman', the 'Spider-Man' franchise, 'Dune', and 'Challengers.'

Thorne also spoke about making peace with her own childhood fame, saying that young performers need support while handling sudden attention and pressure.

"There should be real therapy mandated for children growing up and becoming famous overnight," she said.

She continued, "I think Chappell Roan just spoke about this too — how you'd be crazy not to go crazy because it's just too much at points in your life. If the correct guardrails aren't in place — and even when they are in place — things can still go wrong."

Thorne said therapy has helped her process her experiences from childhood fame and find her voice.