The Brady Bunch star Susan Olsen has revealed the truth behind the five-decade long rumour surrounding an alleged affair between actor Barry Williams and his on-screen mother, Florence Henderson.
Speaking to Fox News Digital, Olsen, known best for her role as Cindy Brady, addressed the speculation that Williams, who played Greg Brady, had an off-screen romantic relationship with Carol Brady, played by Henderson.
The Brady Bunch in 1972.
Top L-R: Maureen McCormick, Florence Henderson, Barry Williams, Christopher Knight.
Bottom L-R: Eve Plumb, Mike Lookinland, Robert Reed, Susan Olsen.
(Image: Getty)“I don’t like the implication that’s been out there, that something was going on with them. There wasn’t anything going on with them except for mutual respect and love,” said Olsen.
Although Olsen confirmed that the relationship between the TV mother and son did not evolve into a romantic connection, she didn’t deny that there had been an inkling of attraction from one side.
“Barry had a crush on her. She was very kind to him. She let him take her out for her birthday. It was completely innocent. She wouldn’t have done anything that wasn’t innocent. She was a mother,” said Olsen.
Prior to her death in 2016, Henderson commented on their infamous date, telling People, “He had a crush on me, and he asked me for a date, which I’ll never forget. He was too young to drive, so his older brother brought him to my hotel, and then I drove us to the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles where we saw a singer. It was so sweet because Barry made sure we had a good table.”
Williams has also previously commented publicly on his relationship with Henderson, writing in his autobiogtaphy, “It wasn’t that I sought to bed her. I just wanted to spend time with her. It was flattering that she gave me any attention at all.”
WATCH: Barry Williams on The Brady Bunch’s Backstage Romances: Article continues after video.
While love didn’t blossom between Williams and his on-screen mother, he did have a brief relationship with his Brady Bunch sister Marcia.
Marcia, played by Maureen McCormick, has been consistently candid about her romantic relationship with Williams, revealing the impact their off-screen connection had on the filming process in her 2008 memoir, ‘Here’s the Story.’
“When we shot ‘A Room at the Top’, the final show of the fourth season, the tension between Barry and me was at an all time high … I couldn’t read the word bedroom in the script without conjuring up fantasies of the two of us. It was as if bedroom had turned into a code word for something illicit and wonderful. Barry wasn’t much better.”
McCormick and Williams were the two eldest children on The Brady Bunch.
(Image: Getty)McCormick also stated that herself and Williams shared their first kiss on the beach while filming the sitcom in Hawaii, adding “Our romance carried back to the mainland.”
“There was so much electricity between us that I felt the hair on my arms stand up every time we got close to each other… I thought about Barry even when I had other scenes with other guys. I used to ask myself how I could ever look in eyes other than his liquid blues and feel such love.”
Unlike the famous series, the off-screen relationship between Greg and Marica Brady did not stand the test of time, with both Williams and McCormick stating that their romance was an “on-and-off-again game.”
