Josh Peck Reveals Drake & Josh Salary Was 'Not Enough To Set You Up For Life'

Josh Peck has revealed that the money he made from Drake & Josh was not enough to 'set him up for life'.

The 35-year-old made his name as a child actor in the Nickelodeon hit series, in which he played Josh Nichols, and the show ran for four seasons.

But while the sitcom may have helped him rise to prominence, Peck has spoken out about the money he made from it in a bid to dispel misunderstandings about 'golden parachutes'.

Speaking recently on the Trading Secrets podcast, he said: "I think people always felt, they look at people like me, and go 'Well if you're still working you messed up somehow, because you got given a golden parachute.'"

He went on to detail how much he made from the gig - and while it was obviously a lot, it was not enough to enable him to retire as a teenager.

Nickelodeon $tar to Blockbuster actor, @ItsJoshPeck explains the industry and much more! ➡️ https://t.co/Ky3Er70ru4 pic.twitter.com/qv3Lyv246l

— Jason Tartick (@Jason_Tartick) April 12, 2022

He said: "I think it's quite public that if you were on a show like Two and a Half Men or Modern Family, and you were the kid on a massive network, syndicated show, the case could be made that you'd have enough money to last you for the rest of your life."

Explaining how this was not the case for him, he continued: "You live with about $450,000 (£345,000) over five years, which breaks down to a little less than $100,000 (£76,000) a year.

"Now, certainly a great amount of money, but not enough to set you up for life.

"And a lot of it, we lived on, and I'm not gonna brag. My mum and I had a used BMW five series. We lived in a two-bedroom apartment with amenities… We lived a very middle-class life."

Then, when the brief bubble burst, the gravy train came to a grinding halt.

"No residuals on kids' television," he said.

"It was like we had 18 months of runway, you know… It's as though someone had lost their job."

Last July, Peck's Drake & Josh co-star, Drake Bell, was sentenced to two years' probation after pleading guilty to felony attempted child endangerment and a misdemeanour charge of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.

The charges were in relation to a girl who attended his concerts and he met online, while she was aged 15.

Bell said at the Zoom hearing: "I accept this plea because my conduct was wrong."

He was ordered to carry out 200 hours of community service and told he can have no contact with the victim.