So yesterday, I stumbled across this tabloid headline screaming about Drake Bell’s first girlfriend while scrolling Twitter during lunch. Figured it’d be fake drama but still clicked because hey, childhood nostalgia hits hard. Grabbed my laptop and started digging like a raccoon in dumpsters behind TMZ.
Phase One: Where The Heck To Even Look?
First step: fired up three different browsers – Chrome for normal searches, Firefox for sketchy forums, and Edge for… well because Microsoft annoys me. Typed “Drake Bell girlfriend 2004” since that’s when he was super relevant. Google spat out trash – just recent rehab stories and Nickelodeon reunion crap. Switched tactics and stalked his old co-stars’ Instagrams instead. Spent forty minutes zooming into Josh Peck’s party pics from like 2017 hoping for throwbacks.
The Weird Deep Dive
Next I hit Reddit’s rabbit hole. Found this dusty subreddit dedicated to mid-2000s Disney/Nick stars. Scrolled through years of posts until – bam! Some user named DanFan2008 mentioned seeing Drake holding hands with some girl backstage at a 2003 concert in Ohio. No name, just “redhead with braces”. Went full detective mode:
- Checked Wayback Machine for his official site (gone)
- Dug up fan club newsletters (404 errors)
- Searched local Ohio newspapers’ archives using my library card (don’t ask)
Finally struck gold in some Geocities-era forum screenshot – blurry as hell but showed Drake signing autographs next to this girl called Sarah T. Asterisk’s because last name was censored. Why?!
Sht Got Real
Took me two more hours connecting dots. Turns out Sarah was his neighbor before he got famous. Found her brother’s Facebook buried under privacy walls – mutual friend list had Drake’s guitarist. Creeped on tagged photos and spotted Drake’s childhood dog in one background. Then it hit me: that “shocking detail”? She wasn’t just some fling. He wrote “Found a Way” about her after she moved away during his casting calls. Actual proof? Compare handwritten lyrics auctioned in 2008 to her sister’s poetry blog post from 2002. Chorus structure’s identical.
Wild part? Nobody cared back then because pop punk love songs sounded cheesy AF. But that dog photo? She kept hugging the same corgi he brought to set once. Connection solidified at 1:47AM when I realized Drake still follows her Pinterest – and she pins his new music. Shook.
Woke up my cat yelling “THEY WERE FOURTEEN!” at 2AM. Poor guy still hates me. Moral of this obsession? Tabloids are lazy. Real tea takes browser burns and creepy zoom sessions. Also, never underestimate Ohio’s ability to hide nineties teen drama.
