This former Nickelodeon star made a Fresno gal’s dream come true

Singer/actor Drake Bell, a former Nickelodeon star, was the first crush for a lot of teenage girls who grew up in the early to mid 2000s.

On Wednesday, he made one longtime Fresno fan’s childhood dream come true.

Bell, who starred in the popular Nickelodeon shows “The Amanda Show” and “Drake & Josh,” sang with Fresno fan Jennifer Cueva during a meet and greet Wednesday afternoon at Heroes Comics a few hours prior to his concert at Fulton 55.

“It was surreal,” fan Jennifer Cueva said. “I’ve always wanted to meet him. He was my childhood crush and I was in shock after finally meeting him.

“I practically waited 14 years for this. He actually didn’t want to sing, but I got my way because I couldn’t go to the concert and he told me he would only sing with me if I would sing, too.”

Bell, 31, has become quite popular since his days on Nickelodeon, with almost 8 million on Facebook, 3 million on Twitter and 2 million on Instagram.

He sings pop rock music, was the voice of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the animated series “Ultimate Spider-Man” on Disney XD and appeared on ABC’s reality TV series “Splash.”

Bell appeared to enjoy his time in Fresno, interacting with fans and performing later into the night.

This story was originally published January 10, 2018 at 9:54 PM with the headline "This former Nickelodeon star made a Fresno gal’s dream come true."