Alexa Nikolas has made fresh claims against Nickelodeon showrunner Dan Schneider, who was behind Zoey 101, the show in which Nikolas starred as a child.
Earlier this month, Nikolas alleged that Schneider would sit in on her costume fittings for the show when she was 12 years old, and now the child star has accused the producer of photographing child actors’ feet.
Rumours about Schneider having a foot fetish first started online a couple of years prior when social media users pieced together clips from Schneider’s shows showing bare feet.
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Speaking on Christy Carlson Romano’s podcast Vulnerable, Nikolas alleged Schneider ‘had a digital camera and would go around with money and ask to take photos of the kids' feet’.
She also said that although she found it ‘weird and silly’ at the time, her mum would say to her: “Don’t go over there,” and allegedly refused to allow Nikolas to have photos of her feet taken.
Last year, Schneider even addressed the foot fetish rumours when speaking to the New York Times, calling them ‘ridiculous’.
He told the paper that ‘kids find feet goofy and funny and there was no effort to sexualize his young stars’.
On 2 November, Nikolas - who is now 30 - also claimed that Schneider was there for wardrobe fittings, saying: “Whenever I had wardrobe fittings, [Schneider] always had to be in them.
"Thank God there was a curtain, but he was literally [sitting] on [a] chair right outside of the curtain."
It wasn’t until she moved onto projects later in her career that the actor said she realised producers didn’t need to be there for fittings.
“I started to realise, 'Oh, so the creator isn’t in the room for the wardrobe fittings.' And I remember them being like, 'Yeah, no. We just send them a photo, and they approve with the producers',” she shared.
She also pointed out how short the skirts worn on set by characters were, noting: "I was constantly having to roll down the biker shorts that were underneath."
Nikolas also alleged that Schneider would ask for pictures of her in character, saying: “[It was] to the point where he would sit in the chair, and I would come out and do a little spin," she said. "[Schneider] would look at the wardrobe artist and say, 'Can I have the Polaroids?'"
UNILAD has approached Schneider for comment.
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV
Aisha Nozari