'iCarly' cast addresses Jennette McCurdy's absence in reboot: 'She's part of this family forever'

"iCarly" fans are one step closer to reuniting with their favorite characters. Ahead of the reboot's premiere, the cast sat down to address the elephant in the room: Where is Sam?

Jennette McCurdy played Sam on the teen sitcom, but confirmed in March that she will not be joining the reboot and has retired from acting.

The series' titular star, Miranda Cosgrove, along with co-stars Nathan Kress and Jerry Trainor sat down with Entertainment Tonight to explain how the show will handle Sam's absence.

"We talk a lot about the Sam character and where she is in the pilot episode," Cosgrove revealed. "And Carly very much still loves Sam and always will."

Trainor, who reprised his role as Carly's brother, Spencer, elaborated: "[Her absence] will be addressed, but it's not something that we go too deep into ... because we just want to respect Jennette's wishes."

"We all really wanted Jennette to be a part of the show in real life," Cosgrove said, but added that they understand McCurdy is "just doing other things and we're really happy for her."

"She's decided to move on from acting and she's doing great in her own world and we're super proud of her," Trainor said. "She's part of this family forever."

Both insisted that McCurdy would be welcomed with open arms should she ever want to return. "That elevator door is always open," Trainor said.

"It never closed," Kress chimed in. "We love her and that's all she needs to know."

"iCarly" ran for six seasons on Nickelodeon, from 2007 to 2012. The seven-time, Emmy-nominated series ended with Cosgrove's character moving to Italy to be with her dad, who was in the military.

The 13-episode "iCarly" reboot premieres June 17 on Paramount+.