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Louise Thomas
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The Brady Bunch star Barry Williams has revealed that the show’s production was not as family-friendly as the series suggested.
The hit American sitcom aired for five seasons between 1969 and 1974, following the lives of a large family in California.
In it, Mike Brady (Robert Reed) is a widowed architect with three sons, who marries Carol Martin (Florence Henderson) with three daughters of her own.
In the Seventies, the series became known for its wholesome storylines but according to Williams, all the kids were “hooking up” with one another behind the scenes. Williams starred as Greg, the eldest of the Brady sons.
“We all hooked up with each other at some point,” the actor, 70, told Us Weekly. “Not necessarily while we were filming.”
He went on to reveal that the boys dated the girls corresponding to their ages.
“I dated Maureen [McCormick], and Chris [Knight] dated Eve [Plum], and Michael [Lookinland] and Susan [Olsen] had a little mock wedding at one point. So, yes, we all hooked up,” he explained.
Williams, however, had a crush on the late Florence Henderson, who played his stepmother, Carol.
The actor wrote about a date that he had with Henderson in his 1992 autobiography Growing up Brady: I was a Teenage Greg.
Williams recalled asking Henderson, 12 years his senior, out on a date.
“I had found this singer coming into the Copacabana near Beverly Hills. I can’t think of exactly where it was, but I invited her to go together as a date, and she said, ‘OK,’” he told Us Weekly. “So I was thrilled. And now for me, it was a date.”
Speaking about the date itself, the actor said that people at the venue were “whispering about us”.
He said: “We were recognised, and so people were whispering about us, which is strange, but we talked about the singer, his orchestrations, the band that he had, and what touring was like.
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“And she gave me an idea what that life would look like now at the end of the date.”
“I did go in for a little kiss and she was nice enough to return it,” Williams continued. “So it was a highlight. Nice little peck, yes.”
Although The Brady Bunch was never a ratings hit for ABC, the show has gone on to become popular – often deemed as a classic sitcom by fans of the series.
