Drake Bell says he spoke openly about sexual abuse in part because of his father, who tried to protect him as a child actor

• Drake Bell says he made Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV in part because of his father.

• Bell said it would be liberating for his father if he could talk about what happened.

• “I’m sure my dad blames himself a lot, you know?” Bell said on The Sarah Fraser Show.

Drake Bell says he has decided to speak openly about the sexual abuse he experienced as a child actor because of, among other things, his father.

On an episode of “The Sarah Fraser Show” released Friday, Bell discussed his decision to share his story in the documentary “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.”

Although he was happy with the show’s producers, Bell said it took him some time to agree to the project because he wasn’t ready to tell the world.

After their first meeting, Bell shared that he had checked into rehab to treat his trauma.

“During this process, when I came out, I thought to myself, ‘You know, maybe this is a good time to approach them and say, ‘Hey, I’m not 100% yet. Let’s talk some more, but I””I’m getting closer to feeling like I’m finally telling my story,” Bell told Fraser.

Bell shared that he was “very cautious” about including his father, Joe Bell, in the docuseries, but ultimately decided to do so because he thought it would be helpful.

“Even though I was struggling with the question, ‘Oh my God, why am I telling my story? Should I do that?’ But also with the feeling: “Wow, now it’s all out there, I can get rid of it,” Bell said. “I felt like it might be liberating and useful for my dad if he could do that.”

“I’m sure my dad blames himself a lot, you know? And I thought this might be an opportunity for him to realize that it’s one person’s fault,” Bell added.

In “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” Bell says he was the previously unnamed minor who was dialogue coach Brian Peck Accused of sexual abuse in 2004.

Peck worked on Nickelodeon’s “All That” and “The Amanda Show.” He was sentenced to 16 months in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender in October 2004.

But before he was sentenced, 41 of his family and friends – including prominent Hollywood stars such as Alan Thicke, James Marsden and Rider Strong – wrote letters in support of Peck.

Bell also told Fraser that he had not received an apology from any of the people who had supported Peck. He also shared that he only found out after the fact that he had worked with some of them on his show Drake and Josh.

“I had no idea that for four years I worked with people who had supported him and probably in the back of their minds they thought of me in a certain way and I thought they were my friends,” Bell said.

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