Family Matters star JoMarie Payton says Jaleel White once wanted to 'physically fight' her on set
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Behind every cheery tight-knit family is a little bit of drama — and the Winslow clan on Family Matters was no exception.
JoMarie Payton, who starred as Winslow matriarch Harriette during the popular sitcom's nine-season run, recently opened up about some of her on-set memories — including stories about the show's breakout star, Jaleel White, who played Steve Urkel.
"There was one time he actually wanted to physically fight me," Payton said in a new interview with ET, alleging the incident took place when they were shooting "Original Gangsta Dawg," an episode in season 9. "There was a scene where I said we can't do that, standards and practices will not let that pass, it's not gonna happen. He wanted to do it anyway."
Payton recalled that White "was so mad, he started kicking and screaming and stuff" and insisted she wanted to "melee," which meant she wanted to fight, Payton soon discovered.
"I turned around — if he wanna fight, I would," she said, adding that costar Darius McCrary, who played her son Eddie, grabbed her before she could "whip his behind."
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images JoMarie Payton and Jaleel White in 'Family Matters'
Last year, White got candid about his experience filming the sitcom, admitting that his castmates didn't always welcome him when he joined the show. "I didn't see how I was stepping on anybody's toes… taking anybody's shine. It's very important that I say this: I was not very well welcomed to the cast at all, okay?" White told TVOne's Uncensored. "And I don't need to rehash that with the adults over and over again. They know what it is."
However, the star added that, over time, he made amends with his costars. "It was what it was," he said. "They knew more than I did about the business... at that age. They understood how the dynamic was changing. But I do think they do deserve credit at times for having helped foster a more harmonious environment by season 3, by season 4, by season 5. And we did become very much a family."
With enough time having passed since the days of their sitcom, Payton told ET she has reached a point where she's much more understanding of White's behavior, noting that he was "just a kid" and that he wasn't the only one at fault.
"I give some of those adults credit too," she said. "Letting him run wild and do whatever he wanted to do, thinking he can say what he wants to say, you know, and hurt people's feelings and all that."
Representatives for White and Payton did not immediately respond to EW's request for comment.
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