Former Disney star forced to deny he's broke after being photographed working as restaurant host, saying the job allows him to 'get out of the house'



One-time Disney Channel heartthrob Dylan Sprouse doesn't want people to think he took a job as a host at a New York City restaurant because he has fallen on hard times.

Photos have been circulating online recently showing what appears to be the former star of The Suite Life of Zach and Cody slaving away at a Manhattan eatery, giving rise to rumors that financial hardship has forced the 21-year-old actor to enter the service industry.

But according to Sprouse himself, the speculations could not be further from the truth.



Working man: Former child actor Dylan Sprouse, 21, was depicted working as a host at a Manhattan restaurant

The former child actor, who has been enrolled in New York University since 2011, addressed the controversy head on in a lengthy post on his Tumblr account.

'To clear up the air (which is admittedly pretty rude), I did not take this job because I “lost all my money,”' he wrote Monday.

He went on saying, 'I am financially secure, and took this job as a way to primarily feed my over bountiful video game addiction.'

The 21-year-old, who said in an interview last year that he was studying video game design while pursuing a double major in poetry and studio art, added that his other reason for taking on the restaurant gig was to 'try a new experience' that allows him to socialize and 'get out of the house.'



Double trouble: Dylan Sprouse and his twin brother, Cole, have been acting since they were six months old

Heartthrob: Dylan, pictured here as a teenager, explained that despite rumors, he has not frittered away all his money, but rather took the restaurant job in search of a new experience



Star performance: The twins are best known for their role as Julian in Adam Sandler's 1999 hit Big Daddy

‘I feel most comfortable when I’m working and doing something,’ he explained. ‘To criticize someone of that is pretty odd.

Sprouse, who has been acting since he was six months old, has not ruled out a possible comeback in the future.

‘I will potentially return to acting someday, but in no way do I think any experience is a step down for me, but rather a new step in another direction,’ he contended.

Dylan Sprouse and his twin brother, Cole, began their career in show business when they were still in diapers, sharing the role of Brett Butler's youngest child, Patrick Kelly, on the ABC series Grace Under Fire, according to his IMDB page.

College men: In 2011, the Sprouse brothers took a break from acting and enrolled in New York University

The twins, however, are best known for their role as Julian in Adam Sandler's 1999 hit Big Daddy.

Between 2005 and 2008, the child actors starred together in their own Disney Channel sitcom, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, which spawned a spinoff show called The Suite Life on Deck.

In 2011, the Sprouse brothers decided to take a break from acting to pursue higher education.

In a YouTube video for ‘Conversations With Nat,’ Dylan explained that the move was inspired by the fact that ‘historically, Disney Channel stars don't survive well outside of the Disney environment,’ The Huffington Post reported.



Not surprisingly, on his Twitter page the outspoken actor describes himself as a 'child actor who didn't do meth.'