Victoria Justice Explains Her Absence From 'Zoey 102'

It's scandal-free, but it still gets the air cleared.

When the Zoey 101 revival movie Zoey 102 was announced in January, the announced returning cast was missing a handful of names that had been series regulars on the original show. Alexa Nikolas (Nicole Bristow)’s absence was expected, and Austin Butler (James Garrett)’s too for very different reasons. That wasn’t the case for Paul Butcher (Dustin Brooks), Kristin Herrera (Dana Cruz) and, most pertinently Victoria Justice (Lola Martinez).

Many believed that due to the unsavory things revealed about Spears as big sister Britney’s conservatorship ending that the unlikelier absences were due to friendships ended over it. However, Herrera revealed in her Instagram stories that her newborn was too new to leave when filming was happening. It turns out Justice’s absence is for reasons just as innocuous. "I would have loved to be there, but there were scheduling conflicts. I was signed on to do a movie, and the dates conflicted. It was a whole thing. I love that cast so much and being on Zoey 101 was the start of my career in a lot of ways," she told OK! while at a wine launch event. "Zoey 101 will always have a special place in my heart, and Lola will always have a special place in my heart! I'm wishing everyone the best. I am excited to cheer them on, and I am excited to see the movie." See? No love lost, everyone’s still good. After the original series ended in 2008, Justice would go on to star as Tori Vega on Victorious, another Schneider’s Bakery Nickcom, from 2010 to 2013.

Justice stays in contact with both casts via group chats, through text or video like marking the tenth anniversary of Victorious on Zoom in the early part of the pandemic. "It's always fun to check in with everyone. It's nice to support one another. We're all rooting each other on," she says. "Those were great times in my life. I look back at those years really fondly."

Much of the confusion may also have stemmed from Zoey 102 being the second time a majority of the Zoey 101 cast reunited in a broadcast manner. In 2019, the cast reunited on the 200th episode of All That, which had been revived for an eleventh season that year, and Herrera and Butcher took part, but Justice did not. She ended up meeting up with them that night. For Zoey 102, she met up with Jamie Lynn Spears and Erin Sanders, who play Zoey Brooks and Quinn Pensky, at a cocktail party to celebrate the film. She wishes the entire cast was there, but is hopeful for a fuller cast reunion soon. Butcher’s absence has had no confirmation yet.

Zoey 102 brings back Spears, Sanders, Sean Flynn as Chase, Matthew Underwood as Logan Reese, Christopher Massey as Michael Barrett, Abby Wilde as Stacey Dillsen and Jack Salvatore as Mark Del Figgalo, as Quinn and Logan are getting married. Thomas Lennon plays Zoey's boss Kelly Kevyn, Owen Thiele plays Zoey's friend Archer March, and Dean Geyer plays Todd, an actor Zoey hires to play her boyfriend for the event. The movie premieres on Paramount+ on July 27.

Source: OK!