Married … With Children star reveals secret feud behind classic sitcom

Former Married … With Children star Ed O’Neill has opened up about what caused his bitter feud with his female co-star on the sitcom.

Ed O’Neill got candid about what caused his bitter feud with his Married … With Children co-star Amanda Bearse.

During an appearance on Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Dinner’s On Me podcast, the actor, who played Al Bundy on the hit series, said their rift was caused because he didn’t stand up for Bearse when she was excluded from the cast’s TV Guide cover shoot.

“I did a thing on the show that involved Amanda Bearse that I regretted,” he explained.

“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.”

The cast of Married … With Children, with O’Neill at far left an Bearse at far right.

O’Neill, 77, said Bearse — who played Marcy D’Arcy — and David Garrison — who portrayed Steve Rhoades — were omitted from the cover because they “were the neighbours” on the show.

“Because they had a rule: only so many could be on the cover,” he said.

However, the Modern Family star said TV Guide made exceptions for other shows.

“Now they violated that for like two shows, I think it was MASH, and Dallas,” he continued. “That was an exception, they weren’t doing it for us.”

O’Neill said Bearse, 65, wanted him to stand up for her and the other co-stars who weren’t asked to be on the cover but he remained quiet in fear that they would lose it altogether.

“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,” he recalled.

The warts-and-all sitcom was a massive hit in the late 80s and early 90s.

“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.’”

The actor said he regrets not helping his castmates and would change the way he handled things if he could go back in time.

O’Neill went on to pose for the TV Guide cover in 1989 with his co-stars Katey Sagal, Christina Applegate and David Faustino.

Married … With Children ran for 11 seasons from 1987 to 1997.

This story originally appeared on Page Six and is republished here with permission.