Signs Amanda Bynes Is Going To Make A Comeback In 2026

Amanda Bynes has one of the most tragic stories in Hollywood. After growing up with millennials on Nickelodeon and moving on to become a bright young star in coming-of-age comedies, she abruptly quit acting via social media in 2010. The world has watched her ride a roller coaster of legal and health struggles ever since. However, there are subtle signs Bynes might be preparing for a comeback, according to a Daily Mail report and her Instagram account.

Sources told the Daily Mail that she's getting some confidence back, partly thanks to weight loss while on Ozempic and a new boyfriend, Zachary Khan. "It's not serious serious, like they're not going to get married right away, but he's really supportive of her, really good to her," the source told the Daily Mail, adding that Khan brings stability to Bynes' life. The "Hairspray" star also shared new music on Instagram in January 2026.

Comments about the song, an EDM track called "Girlfriend," are overwhelmingly positive. "This is so 2007 MySpace and I love it," wrote one commenter. "OMG? Amanda Bynes in her pop star era?! IM SEATED," someone else gushed. Her fans enjoyed the song so much that they started advising her on the next step to take in her hypothetically burgeoning music career. "Please make a music video for this song, it's so good! The beat is addictive!" one fan wrote on Instagram, with others recommending collabs with Paris Hilton or Charli xcx.

Amanda Bynes was a child star on Nickelodeon in the 1990s, going on to star in some of the most beloved comedies of the early 2000s before succumbing to a swift downfall. The "What a Girl Wants" star announced in June 2010 that she was quitting acting via social media, despite being at the height of her career. Her legal troubles began soon after, and she incurred two DUI charges by 2014.

Bynes also began to unravel very publicly, launching racist tirades about the Obamas and Drake on social media before sharing a psychiatric diagnosis and going on a 5150 hold in 2013, eventually being put under the conservatorship of her parents. She called off an engagement after an on-and-off relationship, endured more mental health struggles, and embarked on a cosmetology career after graduating from California's Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.

Bynes briefly returned to the spotlight for a Paper Magazine interview in 2018, discussing how watching herself in the 2006 comedy "She's the Man," in which her character dressed up as a man, was a catalyst for depression and body issues. "I went into a deep depression for 4-6 months because I didn't like how I looked when I was a boy," the "All That" star said. Bynes described how she felt as "a super strange and out-of-body experience," adding, "It just really put me into a funk."

Bynes quickly retreated again following her 2018 interview. However, in a post-#FreeBritney world, where the behavior of exploitative and predatory Nickelodeon producers has been exposed in the docuseries "Quiet on Set," Bynes seems to have the support she'd need to rebuild her entertainment career. That is, if she wanted to.