Christy Carlson Romano claims Shia LaBeouf regularly spoke badly about Hilary Duff’s “Lizzie McGuire” while he and Romano starred together on the Disney Channel series “Even Stevens.” According to Romano, the rivalry was entirely one-sided because Duff did not know it existed, as reported by Page Six.

Romano discussed the alleged tension during a recent appearance on “The Joe Vulpis Podcast.” She said LaBeouf viewed “Lizzie McGuire” as competition because the two Disney Channel programs were fighting for ratings.

“Hilary had no clue about that,” Romano recalled. She added, “I’m sure she was doing her own thing, but he would always be kind of like trash-talking Lizzie McGuire.”

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Romano portrayed LaBeouf as intensely focused on the competition between the shows. “He was very competitive,” she said while describing his attitude toward Duff’s series.

The actress also offered her view of why LaBeouf was so determined to see “Even Stevens” become the leading program on the network. She connected that drive to his personal circumstances and his reliance on the show’s success.

“He had to be the number one show because I think his life depended on that show doing well,” Romano said. “He had a rough upbringing, and I think, like, he needed that show to do well for him.”

Although Romano can look back on their shared time at Disney, she said she no longer communicates with LaBeouf. She also made clear that she has no desire to restore a personal relationship with her former castmate.

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“I don’t really want to talk to him … I’m fine with it,” Romano said. Her comments drew a firm boundary without dismissing the significance of the years they worked together.

Romano said she can still react compassionately to developments in LaBeouf’s life while maintaining her distance. “When good stuff happens to him, I root for him. If bad stuff happens, I pray for him,” she said.

That goodwill does not mean Romano wants renewed contact. “But at the same time, like, I don’t need to know him,” she added during the podcast appearance.

Romano, 42, and LaBeouf, 40, portrayed siblings Ren and Louis Stevens on “Even Stevens.” The Disney Channel show aired from 2000 to 2003, placing both performers at the center of the series.

Her latest remarks arrive as Romano promotes her memoir, “Once Upon a Trainwreck: The Rise and Fall of a Child Star.” The book, released Oct. 6, addresses her experiences as a young performer and the business surrounding her career.

Among the memoir’s revelations is Romano’s claim that she received half the amount LaBeouf was paid for their work on “Even Stevens.” The discrepancy existed even though Romano described the two actors as leads with equal screen time.

Earlier this month, Romano expanded on the pay difference through an Instagram post. She shared a throwback photograph featuring herself, LaBeouf and her mother, Sharon, while explaining how she viewed her position on the show.

“I was a kid and the female lead on ‘Even Stevens.’ I was paid half of what Shia was paid; we were co-leads and had the same screen time,” Romano wrote in the post.

The “Cadet Kelly” star also posted a letter that her mother sent to Romano’s agent in 2000. According to that letter, LaBeouf was earning $12,000 per episode while Romano was being paid $6,000 per episode.

Despite highlighting that disparity, Romano did not argue that LaBeouf was undeserving of his salary. She said he “earned every dollar,” while directing attention toward the way the business valued her work.

Romano also stressed that the memoir is not fundamentally about LaBeouf or the other recognizable people who appear in its pages. “They were part of my story. They were never the story,” she said.

Instead, Romano described the book’s focus in personal and professional terms. “The story is a girl who grew up too fast and a business that decided she was worth half,” she said.