LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Jamie Lynn Spears recently reflected back on her exit from the 2005 series that made her a household name and finally set her apart from her singer-songwriter sister, Britney Spears. The star is now ready to relive her glory days as the PCA gang reunites in the upcoming 'Zoey 102'.
Britney and Jamie Lynn have always had a tense relationship, but it got worse when Britney accused Jamie Lynn of using her for financial benefit, citing Britney was mentioned over 300 times in Jamie Lynn's memoir 'Things I Should Have Said', which was published in January 2022.
Why did Jamie Lynn Spears leave Hollywood?
Nickelodeon had already planned to end 'Zoey 101' in 2008. Jamie Lynn opened up to Variety about why she left not just the show but also Hollywood at the age of 16. Jamie Lynn discovered she was pregnant in May after the show ended. She said, "I think when I wrapped Zoey there were all these plans of things like, ‘Let’s go do movies.' I was reading scripts for things I was excited about. But like a lot of young girls, I thought I was in love. And there I am, pregnant at 16."
As she prepared to manage parenting at such a young age, the 'Zoey 101' star felt afraid and lost. The spotlight wasn't helpful either. Jamie Lynn said, "And the press wasn’t exactly very nice," adding she "wanted to get as far away from it as [she] could." This made her buy a home in Mississippi where she thought she could "put up a gate, put [herself] on a budget," and raise her child free from the rigors of Hollywood and the media.
Jamie Lynn received the shocking news in 2008: she was pregnant with her then-boyfriend, Casey Aldridge, at the age of 16. She decided to give up her acting career to return home to Louisiana and raise her child with Aldridge. Maddie Briann, who was born to Jamie, is now 14, and Ivey Joan, who is 5 years old, is her second child. Jamie Lynn married Ivey’s father, Jamie Watson, in 2014.
'It was a break I probably needed'
About three years ago, Jamie Lynn made a comeback as an actor with the Netflix series 'Sweet Magnolias'. She is now advancing her career by executive producing and starring in the television series 'Zoey 102'. She hopes there will be more 'Zoey' episodes. Meanwhile, Netflix will release Season 3 of 'Sweet Magnolias' on July 20.
Jamie Lynn says having her first child, Maddie, "was not something that [she] regrets or held [her] back," but she also acknowledges there were times when she battled to support her daughter while also proving to her that she "could continue on to be what [she] wanted to be."
She explained, "I had to be accountable for the situation I’d put myself in. I started going to Nashville, writing music and finding other ways to have a creative outlet that made sense for me. It was a break I probably needed because I was very contentious with the press."
'Zoey 102' will debut on Paramount+ on July 27.
