Originally appeared on E! Online
Marc Summers is setting the record straight.
Two weeks after the release of the docuseries “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” which detailed allegations of sexual abuse and a toxic environment at Nickelodeon, the former “Double Dare” host said he was misled about the true nature of the series.
“They asked me what I thought of Nick, and the first 10 to 12 seconds, from what I understand, in this documentary is me saying all these wonderful things,” Summers, who appeared in the first episode of the Investigation Discovery series, explained, on the radio show “Elvis Duran and the Morning Show” April 5. “But they did a bait-and-switch on me. They ambushed me.”
“They never told me what this documentary was really about,” he continued. “They showed me a video of something that I couldn’t believe was on Nickelodeon. And I said, ‘Let’s stop the tape right here. What are we doing?'”
Nickelodeon Stars Then and Now
In the episode, Summers, who hosted the children’s game show from 1986 to 1993, reflected on his time at the network during the doc, replying, “Nickelodeon wasn’t there to educate you. We were there to have fun, to get slimed, to be entertained.” He was then shown clips from “Victorious,” “Zoey 101” and other shows run by Dan Schneider, to which he asked in the series, “Did that air on Nickelodeon.”
The 72-year-old explained in the radio interview that he walked away from the docuseries after being told it would delve into the allegations of workplace misconduct levied at Schneider, who rose through the ranks at the network in the late-’90s—as well as dialogue coach Brian Peck‘s 2004 conviction for sexually assaulting a minor. In the docuseries, Drake Bell came forward as the then-unnamed minor.
Like fellow Nick alum Kenan Thompson, Summer said he left before Schneider’s reign, so he never crossed paths with the former executive. However, he expressed frustration that his involvement in “Quiet on Set” suggested otherwise.
Audiences are in shock over “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” a bombshell new Investigation Discovery docuseries that’s pulling back the curtain on former Nickelodeon shows, alleging that there was a toxic and abusive environment behind the scenes on multiple shows.
“Those people came in after and took over our studios,” Summer emphasized. “I never met the man. I have no idea about any of those things. I mean, I know Kenan from Kenan and Kel because we’ve done stuff together. But as far as anything that happened on that show with any of those people, I never met any of them.”
“I didn’t know anybody,” the former “Unwrapped” host continued. “But it made it seem like I knew those people.”
A few weeks after filming, Summers shared that he received a phone call saying he wouldn’t be featured—before later learning otherwise.
“I went, ‘Great,'” he recalled. “Then they called me about four weeks ago and said, ‘Well, you’re in it, but you’re only in the first part of it because you talked about the positive stuff of Nickelodeon.'”
But he alleges he wasn’t told the full scope of his involvement.
“What they didn’t tell me, and they lied to me about,” he added, “was the fact that they put in that other thing where they had the camera on me when they ambushed me.”
However, the series directors Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz, told E! News in a statement, “We are clear with each participant about the nature of our projects.”