Bella Thorne Got Real About How She’s Been “Pitted Against” Zendaya Her Whole Career

If you follow Bella Thorne and Zendaya, you probably know they go way back. The pair first met as co-stars on the Disney Channel show Shake It Up!, which ran from 2010 to 2013. In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, Bella Thorne made comments about being pit against Zendaya from the beginning, and she held nothing back.

While promoting her Netflix film, The Babysitter: Killer Queen, Thorne opened up about her former co-star Zendaya, and said she's nothing but proud of what she's accomplished. Thorne said she has always remained friends with Zendaya, but the entertainment industry wanted to see them feud. "When you've got women and you're growing up in the same market, even just as well other Disney stars, even if they're not on the same show, you still get pitted against each other," she said. "And people are more likely to be like, 'Hey, what are you doing?' I think people love putting women against each other. It's always this and that," said Thorne. "It's been happening to me and Zendaya since we started the damn show. It's not a surprise."

Thorne relayed her support and joy for how far Zendaya has come with her recent Emmy nomination for her role on Euphoria. "My goodness. I just hope she f**king wins," Thorne said. "The show is amazing. I love Sam Levinson. I love her, so I'm gonna have my fingers crossed the whole entire time. I'm going to be waiting for this acceptance speech!"

While discussing the negativity, Thorne remarked, "I'm just not gonna waste my time hearing their negativity because I have better things to fill my head with. With growth, real growth," she said. "And I think that when people are just really negative, then it's harder to grow."

Previously, Thorne took her frustration to Twitter in 2018, when Seventeen Latin posted a "beauty battle" tweet featuring photos of herself and Zendaya. The star wrote, "Beauty battle? That's not right. Damn it's been years and people still wanna pin us against each other in some way. Love you z."

Thorne revealed she's got a lot in the works, and is looking forward to her growth in the next decade. She told the publication, she's currently working on another book for her Autumn Falls series. "But [in the next] 10 years, marriage, happiness, taking a break from thinking so hard, hopefully, while running my empire," she said. "Hopefully in 10 years I can kind of take a good breather, feel accomplished, and feel good about myself."

The actor also said she's working on a TV series script, has already written the first two episodes, and called it "very dark." Thorne explained, "There's a lot of young characters and parents, and we deal with the relationship between those," said Thorne. "And all these characters really connect and intertwine throughout the whole series. Each episode, you kind of get a whole piece of that and it shocks you and then that kinda leads you into the next."

With another Netflix movie out, a book and TV series in the works, and plans for the future, it definitely seems like Thorne is way too busy to worry about people pitting her and Zendaya against each other. Instead, she's focused on success, happiness, and supporting Zendaya's accomplishments.