Jennette McCurdy says she was showered by her late mum until she was “17 or 18”.
Jennette McCurdy says she was showered by her late mum until she was ‘17 or 18‘
The ‘iCarly’ actress, 31, has alleged she did not wash alone until her mother Debra McCurdy began battling cancer, before it killed her aged 56 in 2013, with Jennette last year releasing her memoir titled ‘I’m Glad My Mom Died’.
She said on the ‘Louis Theroux Podcast’ Debra would stay clothed while “shampooing and conditioning” her hair and “washing (her) body” – as well as examining her breasts and privates for signs of disease.
She added: “She would give me breast and vaginal exams in the shower and said that she was checking for lumps – she was just checking for cancer.”
Jennette said the experiences left her feeling “uncomfortable” and “violate(d)” but decided she couldn’t “ever try to shower (her)self again” after bringing up the issue once – prompting her mum to go “hysterical”.
Jennette previously read a disturbing passage from her memoir on ‘Red Table Talk’ in September, which also claimed Debra forced her and one of her older brothers to shower together until she was 11.
She said: “(My brother is) almost 16 at this point. I get really embarrassed when she showers us together. I can tell he does too… Scotty asked if he could shower himself (on his) own once.
“Mom sobbed and said she didn’t want him to grow up so he never asked again after that.”
‘Red Table Talk’ host Jada Pinkett Smith, 51, asked Jennette whether the experience influenced her current “dynamic” with her siblings, but the actress said she is still “close” with the three of them.
She added: “They have been a source of love and consistency in my life when there really wasn’t much anywhere else.
“We have such a beautiful bond … because of the things we went through together and the things we saw together.”
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