Drake Bell Files for Divorce in Florida After 2022 Split: Co-Parenting Spotlight on Former Nickelodeon Star

Maya Rivers here, scribbling verses in the margins of tabloid headlines. A wannabe poet waxing lyrical about the article, even if it doesn’t quite deserve it.

Drake Bell has taken legal steps to formally end a marriage that has been practically untethered for years. The actor and musician filed for divorce in Seminole County, Florida, on August 14, according to TMZ, more than two years after his estranged wife, Janet Von Schmeling, filed her own petition in Los Angeles Superior Court in April 2023. Von Schmeling had cited irreconcilable differences and listed their September 2022 separation date in her filing, seeking primary legal and physical custody of their son Wyatt as well as spousal support.

There is an odd soft light to this breakup; it reads less like a melodramatic split and more like two adults trying to schedule around the small, bright orbit of a four-year-old. Bell, 39, has publicly described a cooperative relationship with Janet, and in a recent appearance on The Unplanned Podcast with Matt & Abby he spoke warmly about how both parents present love to Wyatt. “I don’t care if I’m angry at my ex-wife,” he said, emphasizing that his son sees mutual love and respect from both parents. “We’re not together, but we love each other,” he added, framing the separation around stability and affection rather than rancor.

Those podcast remarks echo a pattern we’ve seen in other celebrity splits where co-parenting and public image intertwine. Bell used the platform to reflect on his own childhood and parental examples, acknowledging that hearing parents speak ill of one another shaped his sense of self. He vowed to shield his son from that kind of toxicity, saying that he wants to be conscious of inherited behaviors and do better for Wyatt’s sake.

Legally, the filings paint different timelines: Janet’s April 2023 petition originated in Los Angeles and sought custody and support, while Drake’s August 2025 filing in Florida appears to be a responsive procedural move that brings finality to a separation that began in September 2022. The split and subsequent filings underscore how celebrity breakups can stretch over years, with court paperwork lagging behind the reality of living arrangements and day-to-day parenting.

This development arrives in the context of multiple other high-profile separations making headlines, as celebrity relationships continue to shift in the public eye. From Jessica and Ben Mulroney’s reported separation to Cat Deeley and Patrick Kielty’s announcement, the theme of celebrity couples deciding to parent apart seems prevalent. The Bell-Von Schmeling situation reads less like a scorched-earth divorce and more like a quiet untangling, punctuated by co-parenting statements and selective legal steps across state lines.

As legal processes unfold, what matters most is Wyatt’s routine and emotional safety. Both parents’ public assurances of mutual respect and love are meaningful, but court paperwork will determine custody specifics and potential support arrangements. For now, the filing in Seminole County moves the matter into a new formal chapter, even as the family continues to navigate everyday life in the public eye.

So I jot these lines about grown-up heartbreak that looks like responsible adulthood, about paperwork catching up to reality, about a son who will remember how two people managed to care for him despite not being a couple. The paperwork is in, the statements are out, and the next stanza of this family’s story will be written in court calendars and custody schedules.

And as the legal ink dries on another celebrity chapter, I will watch for the next beat: custody dates, court hearings, and the small domestic reports that reveal how the story is really unfolding.

In closing, a small lyrical truth: endings can be neat on paper and messy at breakfast. Which will this be? Time will tell.

Sources: Celebrity Storm and TMZ, The Unplanned Podcast (Matt & Abby), E! Online
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed