What To Know About Drake Bell's Estranged Wife, Janet Von Schmeling
Drake Bell and Janet Von Schmeling initially struck up a romance in 2013. At the time, the Nickelodeon alum was around 27, while his future wife was about 19. The couple kept their romance under the radar until July 2021, when Bell took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to confirm that he had married Von Schmeling in 2018 and that they even shared a son. The post also involved him dispelling the shocking child endangerment accusations that later led to the actor receiving a 2-year probation sentence.
In November 2022, Von Schmeling shared a since-deleted Instagram post where she hinted that she and Bell had gone their separate ways. A month later, an insider revealed to Us Weekly that the former "The Amanda Show" cast member was engaging in strange behavior as he supposedly "huffed balloons" despite their son, Wyatt, riding in the backseat of his car. The source further claimed that Bell appeared momentarily drowsy before he drove away with his child, which was understandably worrying.
A little while after the incident, Von Schmeling wrote a since-deleted cryptic social media post that further suggested their marriage was on the rocks. "I'm healing and trying to find peace," she admitted. "This will be a process. My son is with me and will stay with me, we are in Florida with family and we are safe. We are finding our forever home here," (via Us Weekly). In January 2023, an insider informed People that they had actually split up a little while back. Then, in April, Bell briefly went missing, and a week after authorities found the former child star and declared him safe, Von Schmeling filed for divorce citing "irreconcilable differences."
Janet Von Schmeling is a martial artist
According to court documents obtained by People, Janet Von Schmeling strived to attain legal and physical custody of their son alongside spousal support from Drake Bell. While she stayed mum about their divorce on social media, he took to X to quip, "I found out my wife filed for divorce from TMZ" in a since-deleted post, per People. As the estranged couple navigates their changing worlds during their divorce, Von Schmeling seems to be actively moving on.
Shortly before news of their split broke, she took to Instagram to document how much fun she'd had at Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. Von Schmeling also notably welcomed an old love back into her life: Martial arts. In October 2023, she posted a video of her triumphant return to the dojo after spending 10 years away from it. The caption detailed Von Schmeling's intentions to continue her climb toward excellence by getting her fourth-degree black belt shortly.
According to Von Schmeling's LinkedIn profile, she has been working as an Assistant Program Director at a martial arts studio since 2008. Von Schmeling has also put her talents to good use and started conducting online self-defense classes for women. Her LinkedIn profile notes that Von Schmeling worked as a receptionist during the early days of her relationship with Bell and later took up a job as an executive assistant. The "Drake & Josh" star's estranged wife made her entry into the film industry in 2021, working on the indie flick "Sorry For Your Loss."
She has fully moved on from Drake Bell
On National Boyfriend Day 2023, Janet Von Schmeling divulged that she had found love again through an Instagram Story. Although the martial artist didn't tag her new beau in her post, he has made several appearances on Von Schmeling's feed. In her March 2024 round-up post, we got a glimpse of the mystery man, whose name is Jim Perez, hanging out with her son. She previously shared a video of their adventures in Hawaii in February.
When the mom-of-one isn't spending time with her man, she's with her family. Janet seems particularly close with her sister, Victoria Von Schmeling, and frequently shares snaps of their children together. Janet also has a strong bond with Victoria's kids herself, and in one Instagram post, she confessed to tearing up when her son told his cousin that he loved him. For Victoria's birthday in 2023, Janet posted a sweet video showcasing photos of them through the years, topping it off with a lovely caption.
Likewise, she shared a similar collage of her brother, Hermann Von Schmeling, for his birthday. In the caption, Janet thanked her lucky stars for giving her a brother as wonderful and kind as him and took the opportunity to bestow the title of best uncle onto Hermann too (he seemed the obvious choice because the collage featured several adorable pics of Janet's brother with his nephew). For Christmas 2022, Von Schmeling also took to Instagram to post snaps of her family's celebrations, and Drake Bell was noticeably absent from them suggesting they're not on the best terms as of this writing.