Who Was Crushing on Who Behind the Scenes of ‘The Brady Bunch’?
Here’s the story of a bunch of Bradys … making a show about teens living together for five years. Five long years of close quarters, good-looking castmates, and plenty of hormonal changes. So, is it really shocking that the occasional Brady-on-Brady hookup happened? Or at least a scandalous crush?
The Brady Bunch portrayed a wholesome, morally upright family whose worst onscreen misdeeds might have included sneaking a cigarette, fabricating a boyfriend for attention, or tattling on a sibling. Off-screen, however, the actors behind the blonde-tressed Brady girls and Mike’s all-American boys were far less innocent, navigating the same temptations and growing pains as any other teenagers, a reality that often clashed with their squeaky-clean TV image.
Over the years, through interviews and tell-all autobiographies, the folks behind the Bradys have spilled the beans about who hooked up with whom behind the scenes, and it is enough to make Alice drop her pot roast. Here are a few of the more scandalous stories to come out over the years.
1 Greg and Marcia had it bad for each other
Courtesy: Everett Collection
Grey and Marcia might have fought over the attic, but in truth, Maureen McCormick and Barry Williams were fighting feelings for each other for years.
“Barry and I were extremely attracted to each other,” McCormick told Today in 2008. “It was even hard to be in a scene together. I was just dreaming of this romance. I had such an amazing attraction for him. It was awkward to be in scenes playing brother and sister. People started seeing it. Fortunately, it was on-again, off-again. We look at it now and we laugh.”
Williams also confirmed he and McCormick were interested in each other during a 2003 interview.
“That was in Hawaii while we were filming those episodes,” Williams said. “We snuck away, it was a full moon, (we) walked along the sand. Well, I knew where that was headed. Of course, I set it up.”
In her book, Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice, McCormick talks about how those feelings finally spilled over during the filming of the Hawaii episodes.
“We couldn’t hold back any longer,” she wrote. “It was our first kiss, and it was long, passionate, and deep. It was wonderful, too, though as we continued to kiss and press against each other so closely that we could feel each other’s body heat, a part of me — a tiny part, admittedly — said to myself, “Oh my God! I’m kissing my brother. What am I doing?”‘
2 Greg took Carol out on a date
In an interview with US Weekly, Barry Williams admitted he once caught feelings for his TV mom, Florence Henderson.
“I had a teenage crush on her, for sure,” he explained. “And she’s got a very lively personality and great sense of humor, but I knew that I wanted to have music in my career [in] acting, and so I talked to her a lot about that.”
“I had found this singer coming into the Copacabana near Beverly Hills,” he continued. “I can’t think of exactly where it was, but I invited her to go together as a date, and she said, ‘OK,’ so I was thrilled. And now for me, it was a date.”
“We were recognized, 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,” Williams added.
Ron Thal/TV Guide/courtesy Everett Collection
According to Williams, Henderson ended the evening with a small kiss.
“And she gave me an idea [of] what that life would look like now at the end of the date. And this is chronicled in my book [Growing Up Brady: I Was a Teenage Greg], as well. I did go in for a little kiss, and she was nice enough to return it. So it was a highlight. Nice little peck, yes.”
However, Henderson later noted that the date meant far more to Williams than it did to her. According to her website (now defunct), “That whole thing with Barry got blown way out of proportion. I guess in a sense it was a date, because Barry thought it was. But of course, I had no idea that his intentions were to ‘date’ me. It has made for a good story, though!” she wrote.
Even Maureen McCormick wrote about it in her book, Here’s the Story: “What was with us Brady kids? The following year Barry developed the hots for Florence, took her out on what he considered a dinner date, and gave a good-night kiss. That was weird.”
3 Cindy used to kiss Bobby in Tiger’s doghouse
Everett Collection
When asked if any of the Brady kids hooked up during filming, Cindy Brady actress Susan Olsen told News.com.au, “I think all of us did … We led a sheltered life for part of the year so if there was anybody to get a crush on or try to date, it would be our counterparts.”
She then added this small detail: “So I had Mike Lookinland [Bobby Brady] and we used to make out in the doghouse when we were nine.”
According to Olsen, ““We led a sheltered life for part of the year so if there was anybody to get a crush on or try to date, it would be our counterparts.”
4 Marcia had a massive crush on Mike, her ‘dad’
Everett Collection
Maureen McCormick revealed that she once had a crush on her TV father, Robert Reed, who was forced to hide his homosexuality during the show’s filming, a truth unknown to his TV family at the time, as it was not possible to continue working on the show and be his authentic self. Reed was forced to conceal that part of his life, and he was good at it. So good in fact, that his teenage “daughter” developed feelings for the older man due to his kind nature.
“I always had a thing for older men,” wrote McCormick in her book. “Including Bob, who had a lovely daughter, Caroline, from a previous marriage. I had no idea he was secretly gay. I used to imagine running off with him.”
After his passing, Florence Henderson talked to ABC News about her screen husband: “He was an unhappy person … I think had Bob not been forced to live this double life, I think it would have dissipated a lot of that anger and frustration.”
5 Peter took Jan to ‘Lover’s Lane’
Everett Collection
During a seminar at Lafayette College’s Colton Chapel, Barry Williams told a story about how his costars Christopher Knight and Eve Plumb took a ride in Knight’s pickup to an isolated location to “look at the stars” from the back of the truck.
According to Williams, the two had their moment ruined by “the Valley’s finest,” two police officers who were interrupting the teens. According to Williams, Plumb told the officers that she was “just trying to get to know Peter better.”
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