Top 20 Cringiest Disney Channel Scenes Ever
#20: Cory Teaches the Birds & the Bees “Girl Meets World” (2014-17)
Sex education can either be an enlightening experience or a total hot mess. For Cory Matthews, it was the latter. The teacher gets all flustered at the idea of discussing the body and its "wants" with his students. To make matters worse, his daughter is sitting in the front row of his class. His discomfort is contagious in this scene. This could have been a great teachable moment for impressionable young fans with plenty of questions they're too embarrassed to ask. But when a student named Isadora takes over the lesson, the dialogue gets bleeped out entirely. All we're left with is some cringe-worthy, overacted facial experiences from the students and their teacher.
#19: “Steal Your Heart” “Austin & Ally” (2011-16)
In this season two episode, Austin and the gang get taken to court after Val dishonestly accuses them of stealing her song lyrics. The trial seems to be going in her favor until the singer breaks out the most compelling bit of evidence. Austin bursts in singing, dancing, and flirting with several girls. Everyone from the spectators in the gallery to the dancing judge have a ball as he continues his performance. Yes, it’s catchy, and yes, Austin’s got some impressive moves, but can you imagine being in a court where this happened? This nonsensical number felt like a little too much for such a serious matter. If you were there, you’d probably just rule in his favor to make it all stop.
#18: Maddie & Trevor’s Kiss “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody” (2005-08)
The hate-to-love trope is way overdone. But in “Suite Life,” they managed to cram it all into one conversation that left us itching for the remote. Zac Efron guest stars as Trevor, a brilliant overachiever who doesn’t care much about saving the environment. Maddie acts as London’s brain during her date with the Merit Scholar. But she comes out of hiding when he makes a rather controversial statement. The pair argue, declare their hatred for each other, and kiss. Because that’s obviously the next logical step after hearing “I hate you.” Ashley Tisdale revealed that the actual kiss was pretty awkward too. Apparently, her co-star didn’t realize that you don’t use tongues on the Disney Channel.
#17: Lizzie's Bra Tantrum “Lizzie McGuire” (2001-04)
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Yes, this is one of the most iconic “Lizzie” moments, and nothing will ever change that. But, in hindsight, doesn’t it make you cringe just a little? Lizzie and Miranda go through the normal adolescent rite of passage of getting their first bras. For any of us who’ve undergone that experience, watching them cluelessly riffle through the racks is awkward enough. But the moment that makes us recoil is when Lizzie tells her mom why she’s so desperate to hit the mall in the first place. It’s embarrassing for sure. At the same time, we’re guilty of spending our teen years quoting this moment and willingly reliving the cringe.
#16: Miley’s Picture Perfect Choice “Hannah Montana” (2006-11)
We can’t think of worse things than having two solid individuals hopelessly in love with you. Unfortunately, Miley was plagued by this dilemma in season 3 when she had to choose between Jake and Jesse. In a dream sequence, her mom tells her to follow her heart. But she soon learns that isn’t as easy as it sounds. The moment is dramatized with Miley staring off into the distance as one of her songs plays loudly in the background. If that doesn’t already feel a bit over the top, a serendipitous gust of wind blows the doors open and conveniently guides a photo into Miley’s lap. We can’t watch this without wincing.
#15: Cody Enters the Pageant Contest “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody” (2005-08)
In this episode, Cody accidentally ends up in a beauty pageant while trying to get close to another contestant. Upon learning that the first place prize is $2000, Zack urges him to continue the facade. This naturally leads to several uncomfortable moments throughout the episode. Firstly, it plays way too heavily on cringe-worthy beauty pageant tropes. Also, Cody tricking Rebecca into believing he's Tyreesha just to get close to her is super awkward. And we'd rather forget that slumber party scene altogether. We're relieved when they're finally caught because at least our discomfort could end. Before revisiting this episode, just be wary that it can be a painful experience.
#14: “Bet On It” “High School Musical 2” (2007)
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Teenage angst comes in many forms. But it’s not often accompanied by an admittedly catchy tune and all-around cringe-inducing dramatic dance sequence. When Troy gets fed up with everyone making decisions on his behalf, he could only think of one way to express his frustration. He angrily prances around a golf course, busting out some erm, interesting moves as he vents his anger. It’s so absurd that we never know whether to laugh out loud or recoil from the second-hand embarrassment. This sequence is such an iconic part of DCOM history that it became a TikTok trend in 2020. Thankfully, fans were happy to recreate some of the cringiest “Bet On It” moments.
#13: Lizzie Unleashes Her Inner Bad Girl “Lizzie McGuire” (2001-04)
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Landing in detention just once proves to be a very slippery slope for our protagonist. While there, she befriends her tormentor. And just like that, Lizzie’s now a bad girl. Fans of the show know that Lizzie’s very much a goody-two-shoes and a total sweetheart. So, this 180 flip just felt unnatural. The girl who couldn’t lie about going to the mall to buy a bra is fine forging notes? We don’t think so. Since the bad girl attitude just didn’t suit her, we were left grimacing the entire time. It was definitely a relief to have our sweet innocent Lizzie back by the end. Still, the awkwardness is etched into our minds forever.
#12: Rap Battle “Adventures in Babysitting” (2016)
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Oh, Disney Channel. You really went there. Did you really think a rap battle was the way to go? This infamous scene starts out awkward enough with Jenny timidly addressing the crowd. Before we know it, she’s rapping. She’s also joined by the kids to form an ensemble that raps about their current predicament. During the impromptu performance, Jenny calls out rival babysitter Lola, faces off in a rap battle and makes up with her nemesis, all while declaring [1]. Yes, it’s really that bad. And their synchronized dance steps don’t make it any better. If anything, villains Tiny and Scalper did them a favor by turning up and bringing the show to an abrupt conclusion.
#11: “The Ally Way” “Austin & Ally” (2011-16)
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Look, we’re all for owning the haters. But this song just made us want to hide behind our hands and change the channel. When Ally submits a song for the “Future 5” contest, she gets made fun of due to her awful dancing. It even goes viral. She unapologetically stands by her embarrassing moves and uses “The Ally Way” to stick it to everyone who made fun of her. In theory, it’s a great idea. But in actuality, it’s just weird and embarrassing. Something tells us that in reality “The Ally Way” is unlikely to stick unless you have no shame. We think we should move along before we end up with fourth-degree cringe-y-ness.
#10: “Nothing’s Wrong with Me”... Except This Dance “Pixel Perfect” (2004)
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One of Disney’s more underrated movies, “Pixel Perfect” focuses on the Zetta Bytes and their new frontwoman, Loretta who is actually a hologram. She’s an instant hit with audiences, at least within the movie. For the rest of us, she’s just a bit too much. Loretta is certainly talented, but her moves are very overstated and just downright unrealistic. We get that she’s meant to be this perfect performer but she might want to rethink that choreography. We first see it in the song “Nothing’s Wrong with Me”, which is kind of ironic given what some audience members may have been thinking at the time.
#9: Cody Gets Intimate with the Lab “The Suite Life Movie” (2011)
When Disney+ announced that this movie would be available on the streaming platform, one of its stars and co-producers wasn’t exactly thrilled. To be fair, we probably wouldn’t want our most cringe-worthy moments stored on the internet for all to see either. While there are a fair amount of offenders in this film, this is the moment that really gets our skin crawling. When the twins are first shown around the Gemini Lab, Cody gets well-acquainted with the equipment. Perhaps too well-acquainted. This might have gone over your head as a kid, but older audiences probably did a double-take and couldn’t help but grimace.
#8: Luke’s Uncomfortable Crush “Jessie” (2011-15)
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This episode featured as part of Disney Channel’s “Freaky Freakend” marathon. A package, containing a magic bell arrives, unleashing chaos as everyone switches bodies. Jessie and Zuri switch mid-argument, creating this excruciating scene. Fans of the show know that Luke has always had a crush on his nanny. However, in this scene, he’s unaware that Zuri and Jessie have switched bodies. So when he makes this declaration he’s actually talking to his sister. Talk about awkward! As if Debby Ryan acting as Zuri wasn’t already uncomfortable! Much like the premise of this episode, we were all hoping that this was just a painful dream too.
#7: Troy Gives Gabriella His Necklace “High School Musical 2” (2007)
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After that explosive opening number, Gabriella starts to wonder whether summer vacation will be as fun as the song implied. Somehow, this provides a segue for Troy to take the next step in their very Disney Channel-friendly relationship. It’s a rather saccharine moment as Troy places his necklace around Gabriella’s neck. But the moment that really has us groaning is when she asks him about the “T” on it. Even Troy seems caught off-guard by her question and who can blame him? We thought Gabriella was meant to be some kind of genius. This really wasn’t the finest moment for the pair, or quite frankly for the writers.
#6: Lizzie Masters Rhythmic Gymnastics “Lizzie McGuire” (2001-04)
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Lizzie worries that everyone but her has found a niche in which they excel. However, during gym class, she joins the ranks when she finds an activity that she’s apparently amazing at. Now, we’re not sure what everyone else is watching because all we can see is the actress hopping from foot to foot while waving a ribbon. It’s not really what you’d see at the Olympics, is it? We want to look away but we simply can’t. This cringe-fest is even more baffling when you discover that Hilary Duff has previous gymnastics training and can actually do a pretty killer round-off back handspring.
#5: The Dance-Off “Cadet Kelly” (2002)
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Kelly and Captain Jennifer Stone have been butting heads since the moment they met. Kelly is determined to maintain her individuality, which doesn’t go over all that well at military school. Things come to a head between the two after Kelly is sentenced to serve the drill team, but a dance-off helps them put their differences aside. At first, Kelly mocks her senior but eventually, they both realize that they might actually make a great team after all. Kelly learns respect for order and authority, Jennifer learns that individuality isn’t all that bad and the audience learns just how awkward a dance-off can get.
#4: Camp Rock Challenges Camp Star “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam” (2010)
With Camp Rock’s future in jeopardy, Mitchie rallies the others as they prepare to take on Camp Star in the Camp Wars. We assume that this weird march/chant that they’re doing is meant to intimidate the competition, but if you ask us Tess and Luke’s faces say it all. They definitely look more confused than intimidated. And we can’t help but feel embarrassed for them, especially when Mitchie smirks at the competition. This scene hilariously became a TikTok trend with users editing it into other scenarios. There’s nothing funnier than watching the Avengers witness this cringe-fest after all.
#3: Awkward Sibling Tension “Life with Derek” (2005-09)
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As audiences got to know these characters, they started to pick up on the not strictly family-friendly chemistry between step-siblings, Derek and Casey. In fact, there were many who were rooting for them to get together. At times, the undeniable romantic tension between them was even intensified. Yes, we know that they’re step-siblings and not blood-related. And sure, it’s not like they grew up together. But it’s still weird. Maybe the writers were having fun indulging their audience with this will-they-won’t-they. But clearly, someone at Disney thought it was too much; you might have noticed that the show wasn’t included in the Disney+ line-up.
#2: Caitlyn’s Keyboard Dance “Camp Rock” (2008)
We promise you that we have nothing against dancing…. when it’s done well. Sadly, though this scene isn’t the one. As Caitlyn gets her spotlight during the already cringe-worthily named “Pajama Jam”, she does this odd keyboard dance that begins with some bizarre hand-ography. If that didn’t make you squirm then maybe Mitchie’s somewhat overblown reaction did. Were we not watching the same performance? Luckily, Tess’ misplaced jealousy brings it to a quick conclusion, although her smack talk just causes us even more second-hand embarrassment. (xref) Considering that Alyson Stoner is a phenomenal dancer, who’s even performed with the likes of Missy Elliot, she deserved so much better. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. Jessie’s Not Brook’s Sweetie, “Jessie” (2011-15) Zuri’s on Hand to Make Sure the Awkwardness Is Felt What’s Worse than Being Jerks?, “High School Musical” (2006) Whoever Made Her Say That Line Is a Mean Jerk “Blingalicious”, “Camp Rock” (2008) Even Saying That Out Loud Feels Wrong Dance Captain Shane, “Camp Rock” (2008) There’s Clearly a Reason the Jonas Brothers Don’t Dance Stella’s Off-Rhythm Clap-Dancing, “Lemonade Mouth” (2011) It Entirely Defeats the Point of the Movie & Still Makes Us Cringe
#1: That Look, You Know the One “Radio Rebel” (2012)
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Based on the novel “Shrinking Violet”, this comedy followed Tara, a shy high schooler who runs a popular podcast in the privacy of her bedroom. When her school’s prom gets canceled she organizes a MORP, which is just Prom spelled backward, as her radio alter-ego. At the Morp, Gavin performs a song inspired by Tara. Her reaction has gone down in infamy as one of the cringiest moments that the Disney Channel has ever put on our screens. Plenty of fans, including Debby Ryan herself, have recreated the moment in their TikTok videos. It might have been a brief moment but it makes us recoil every time.
