Ed O'Neill has revealed what exactly happened between him and his Married... With Children co-star Amanda Bearse to spark their bitter feud.
If you’re asked to promote your show, would you jeopardise it for the sake of keeping others happy?
Well, that’s the choice that Ed O’Neill was handed after being cornered by colleagues as he was due to appear on a cover shoot to promote Married... With Children.
The 77-year-old recently got candid about the moment he regrets the most after staring in the iconic sitcom.
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The hit show ran from 1987 to 1997 and explored the story of the Bundy family, who ran into hilarious situations whilst trying to navigate ordinary life.
The series starred O’Neill as Al Bundy, a shoe salesman, who lived with his wife, Peggy (Katey Sagal), his popular daughter, Kelly (Christina Applegate) and his smart but unpopular son, Bud (David Faustino).
It was TV magic.
But it was behind the scenes where a long-time friendship took a turn for the worst.
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The actor was honest about his fall-out with co-star Amanda Bearse while chatting with Modern Family co-star Jesse Tyler Ferguson on his Dinner’s On Me podcast.
O’Neill said their rift began after he didn’t stand up for Bearse and other cast members after they were excluded from a TV Guide cover shoot.
He explained: “I did a thing on the show that involved Amanda Bearse that I regretted. We didn’t get along, but we did for a long time. We were great friends.
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"And I could guess, I don’t want to speak for her, but it started when we got the cover of TV Guide.”
Bearse, who played Marcy D’Arcy and David Garrison, who was casted as Steve Rhoades, were excluded from the cover as they ‘were the neighbors’ on the show.
O’Neill said: “We didn’t get along, but we did for a long time. We were great friends. And I could guess, I don’t want to speak for her, but it started when we got the cover of TV Guide.
He went on to claim that Bearse wanted him to stand up for her others who weren’t going to be put forward for the cover shoot, but he was too afraid to jeopardize it for fear that they would lose the opportunity.
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He said: “Because they had a rule: only so many could be on the cover.”
However, the actor went on to reveal that TV Guide made exceptions for other shows and allowed more people to feature on the cover.
He shared: “Now they violated that for like two shows, I think it was ‘MASH,’ and ‘Dallas.’ That was an exception, they weren’t doing it for us.”
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The Modern Family star did in fact go on to pose for the cover in 1989 with co-stars Katey Sagal, Christina Applegate and David Faustino and didn’t speak up for his cast mates.
He explained why he didn’t speak up: “We were lucky to get it. It was like the sixth year in or something, and we were thrilled to get the cover of TV Guide. It was big. And Amanda and David came out in unison from their dressing room.
“We were on the soundstage, and she said, 'We expect you to go to [co-creator] Ron Leavitt and tell him this doesn’t work. We’re all on the cover'.”
But he regrets not standing up for his castmates and would go back and change the outcome if he could.
Topics: Entertainment, Film and TV, US News
Britt Jones