E! Online·United States·Wednesday, August 19, 2026 at 07:04 PM

Jamie Lynn Spears Refutes "Misconception" Her Pregnancy Ended Zoey 101

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Paige Catton

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Jamie Lynn Spears wants Zoey 101 fans to come follow her to the truth.

Nearly two decades after the Nickelodeon show’s series finale, the actress set the record straight on the longtime rumor that her getting pregnant with her now 18-year-old daughter Maddie at 16 was the reason why Zoey 101 ended.

“If we’re talking about a concrete misconception, it would be that everybody thinks Zoey ended because I got pregnant,” Spears shared on the Aug. 18 episode of the Momarchy podcast. “And that is not true.”

As the 35-year-old emphasized, production on the fourth and final season of Zoey 101—which ran from 2004 to 2008—had already been completed before she got pregnant with Maddie, whom she shares with ex Casey Aldridge. However, it didn’t air until May 2008, months after she announced her pregnancy.

“That’s how it is in entertainment. A lot of people who aren’t in the business don’t understand,” Spears explained. “They think we shoot it, it comes out. No, you shoot it and it comes out maybe the next year or something.”

“That’s where people are confused,” she continued. “But we were wrapped, we were always wrapped, and there was never going to be another season.”

Spears—who welcomed Maddie in June 2008—stressed that her daughter is not to blame, sharing with a smile, “My beautiful Maddie is not the reason the show ended.”

And despite the many years of confusion, the Sweet Magnolias actress—also mom to daughter Ivey, 8, with husband Jamie Watson—and Maddie are able to find humor in the whole situation.

As Spears explained, Maddie—who recently graduated high school—receives comments on TikTok from fans accusing her of being the reason behind Zoey 101's cancelation.

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“[Her] top comments are always, ‘You’re the reason Zoey’s over!’” Spears shared. “We laugh about it. You got to laugh at these things, because it’s pretty funny some of the things they say to her. But it’s just not the truth.”

And when Spears reprised her role as Zoey, reuniting with her former costars Erin Sanders, Sean Flynn, Matthew Underwood, Christopher Massey, Abby Wilde and Jack Salvatore, in the 2023 follow-up TV movie Zoey 102, she was given the opportunity to do it with her daughters by her side. After all, both Maddie and Ivey made cameos in the film, which she described as a “special moment.”

"Just seeing those two worlds collide, it was a really proud moment for me as a mom," Spears told Entertainment Tonight in a July 2023 interview. "[Maddie] told me she liked what she saw—the set and saw the production and what it was. She was like, 'Mom, I can't believe that they're all here because this is the movie that you've created.’”

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