Landing a gig on Disney Channel is every child star's dream. For actress Bella Thorne, Shake It Up was that very break. Feeling pressured by the loss of her father to make an income at only nine years old, earning the role of CeCe Jones opposite Zendaya was a blessing for Thorne, who was also struggling with bullying due to her dyslexia.

But 27-year-old Thorne tells PEOPLE in a new interview that the child-centered network embraced her disability, even integrating it into her character.

"Disney was so smart and sweet. They were the first people to make me feel good about my dyslexia. Before that, it was always seen as a bad thing. I was bullied for it. I had to go to Sylvan Learning Center and be homeschooled. I was embarrassed about reading because I was so bad at it," Thorne shared, reflecting on her struggles.

According to the Mayo Clinic, dyslexia is a learning disorder that involves difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words (decoding). Also called a reading disability, dyslexia is a result of individual differences in areas of the brain that process language.

"When I was on 'Shake It Up,' I had to do weekly table reads with so much dialogue, and the scripts sometimes changed the night before. I had to read in front of everybody. It was nerve-wracking. I'd be sweating, and when I messed up, I'd hear people laugh, thinking I was being silly, but I wasn't. One of the writers figured out I was dyslexic, and Disney made an episode about it. They made CeCe dyslexic. That was such a sweet moment. It was like, 'Wow, you guys think this is a good thing to talk about?'"

Having come a long way since Disney, Thorne's life now consists of acting and directing, ranking high on OnlyFans, playing step-mom to fiancé Mark Emms' 10 and 14-year-old children, and carrying out advocacy work with organizations like amfAR and PETA.

Thorne and Emms got engaged only nine months after dating, following their serendipitous meeting at Cara Delevingne's birthday party in Ibiza in 2022. "It was love at first sight as the sun rose," the Rumble Through the Dark actress told Vogue.

When asked if she's gotten into wedding planning yet, Thorne replied, "There's just no time right now. I've been filming nonstop, and it's been really hard to focus on anything else. But I know when I do get to it, it's going to be super creative and unique — I can't wait to start dreaming it up." She was previously engaged to Italian singer Benjamin Mascolo in 2021.

Tags
Bella Thorne, Zendaya