For most teens getting your permit is right of passage, but for this star it means more than just being able to drive herself.
On Thursday, Bella Thorne finally got her driver’s license and posted up a picture of the proof on social media.
Smiling, the 18-year-old star proudly held up her temporary permit in the middle of a Los Angeles, California, DMV.
The teen captioned the snap, ‘The DMV life! finally!!!!’ and on Twitter wrote ‘Finally, thank goodness’.
The actress has every reason to be proud as getting her license meant overcoming her fear of driving.
The Duff star has avoided driving, despite buying herself a car, as she has been haunted by her father’s road death.
Bella’s dad, Reinaldo Thorne, was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2007 and the young star has previously said she does not feel ready for such a big responsibility because of his passing.
Just last month she said in an interview with Seventeen: ‘I’m not mature enough to accept the responsibility of perhaps taking someone else’s life.’
Elaborating further to ET in August, the actress said: ‘I have a fear of driving and so I still don’t drive.
‘I’m best friends with my mom, so she kind of just takes me everywhere. She was like, ”Bella, get a car and once you get a car you’ll like want to drive and want to drive your car.” So I get a car [but] I’m perfectly content watching her drive it.’
While she may have gotten over her fear of driving, the loss of her father still has an impact on her daily life.
Bella wrote in her book Autumn Falls: ‘There are times where I’m completely normal even to this day and I’m just like, ”Oh, that light post looks nice. I wonder if Daddy would like that light post.” And then, all of a sudden, I realize I’m crying.’
Bella Thorne talks new book Autum Falls and her late fatherThe fact they were surviving off food stamps pushed the young star harder, she said.
Bella told Seventeen magazine: ‘I don’t think anybody really knew [about our struggles] – it wasn’t a very obvious thing. I’ve never really talked about it. I wasn’t hiding it, and it wasn’t like, ”Oh, I’m embarrassed because we don’t have money.” It was, ”Oh, we don’t have money, so we’re going to work that much harder.”
‘It was scary, though, because you really want those jobs. It’s a different hunger when you want your family to eat.’
Bella Thorne and Gregg Sulkin holding hands returning to LA