A former Nickelodeon star came forward about an uncomfortable incident on the set of The Naked Brothers Band.
via: THR
Allie DiMeco has shared her own experience on the set of the show, which aired from 2007-09.
In the musical mockumentary series starring Nat and Alex Wolff as fictionalized versions of themselves, DiMeco played the former’s love interest, Rosalina. During the third season, DiMeco’s character, who is a teenager, has a short-lived romance with a French man named Michel (played by Jake Hertzog). In a scene of the two-part episode “Naked Idol,” he kisses her in front of Nat, causing Rosalina’s temporary exit from the band.
In a TikTok shared over the weekend, DiMeco spoke about the onscreen kiss after watching Quiet on Set. She said that she was “stressed” while watching the docuseries. Panning her camera to the docuseries paused on her computer screen, she said that, much like the other Nickelodeon stars who spoke for the series, she “went through trauma.”
@missalliedimeco TV talk brought to you by me and #mightypatch #iykyk ? #quietonset #mystory #nbb #nakedbeothersband #nickelodeon #PTSD #theick #absolutelymental #kidactor ? original sound – Allie DiMeco
“There was an episode where Rosalina ‘cheated’ on Nat and kind of kissed a French guy,” she explained, adding that she “did not” want to kiss him.
“He’s a 30-year-old man. I’m sorry, I couldn’t even watch it. It gives me fucking the ick and it honestly gives me PTSD,” DiMeco said while playing an edited version of the Naked Brothers Band clip in question.
“I’m watching this Quiet on Set documentary and it’s talking about how integral and vital it is to create — especially when it’s a kids cast — to create an environment where kids feel comfortable to say ‘No’ or ‘I don’t feel comfortable with this.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, maybe they do express that though, it’s also more important to create an environment that listens to the kids and actually does not make them do things when they don’t want to do them,’” she said.
DiMeco continued, “They made me kiss this 30 plus-year-old man when I was like, what, 14, 15? I told them many times that I didn’t want to do it. My mom was very against it and they pretty much made me feel like I was going to lose my job, that I might be fired if I didn’t do it.”
DiMeco claimed the environment on set was one of “highly nepotism-nepo kids” where “everybody knew each other on the cast, more or less, except for me.” The series was created and co-executive produced by showrunner Polly Draper, mother to starring brothers Nat and Alex. Their real father, Michael Wolff, played the onscreen dad and their cousin, Jesse Draper, played the group’s babysitter. She says Kristina Reyes was also “externally” cast.
In the comments, DiMeco noted that Hertzog “wasn’t even an actor. He was the backup guitarist for live shows and practiced with us in band practice and always wanted to be written in.”
Back in November, DiMeco made a TikTok reflecting on another alarming situation on set while revealing why she left acting.
@missalliedimeco The infamous “ why did you give up acting?” A question that haunts me to this day. While I am so grateful and appreciative for the experiences that I had on TV as a kid, I learned from an early age that this is not the end all be all dream that I wanted to chase for my whole life. The business was not as shiny or fun as they made it seem to a kid. I was able to learn from an early age that I could be in control of my own life and what I chose to do with it…i just didnt know it in this situation, thank God for my mom who supports any decision I ever make. #tvtalk #behindthescenes #nickelodeon #childactor #losangeles #thenakedbrothersband #nakedbrothersband #rosalina #alliedimeco #firstkiss #onset #kidactor ? original sound – Allie DiMeco
She explained that, because she had been so busy as a child actor, she had not had her first kiss before her first onscreen one for the show. When the show decided to have an episode centered around Nat and Rosalina’s kiss in the first season, DiMeco, who at the time was “12 or 13,” “freaked out” because she hadn’t experienced it in real life yet.
Alongside her mother, the former child star told producers and the show’s director that she was not going to have her first kiss be for the show. “They threatened me that I would get fired, that I would never work again in this industry, that my career was over,” DiMeco recalled.
She continued, “There was a female producer who was very upset and looked at me and said, ‘You haven’t had your first kiss yet?’ and grabbed me and kissed me. And then she said, ‘There, your first kiss is over. You had your first kiss, now go film.’”
Nickelodeon did not respond to THR‘s request for comment.
THR has also reached out to reps for The Naked Brothers Band executive producers Draper and Albie Hecht.
