Nearly 30 years after Family Matters came to an end, Jaleel White revealed he was told to wear loose jeans to hide Steve Urkel’s “bulge.”
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In his new memoir Growing Up Urkel, White opens up about his time as the TGIF fan-favorite Steve Urkel, from 1989 to 1998. The jeans incident notably occurred when he was over 20 years old and in the show’s eighth season.
“Let’s get rid of the suspenders. Lower his pants, too,” Jaleel recalled the TV sitcom’s executive producers said, per US Sun. “Oh and…It’s getting a bit uncomfortable watching him in tight jeans. There’s a, uh…bulge.”
Jaleel White claimed that by the time he entered college, he was “peeling” himself out of the skintight pants that were “like a banana.”
Along with getting older, Jaleel White struggled to keep up with the high-pitched voice that his Family Matters character was known for. He said it actually became “physically painful” to hit certain octaves.
Despite his vocal struggles, White stayed on the show until it was canceled. Starring alongside him on the show were Jo Marie Payton, Reginald VelJohnson, Kellie Shanygne Williams, Darius McCrary, and Rosetta LeNoire.
The show also had spin-offs, including Urkel Saves Santa: The Movie! and A Family Matters Christmas.
Jaleel White Previously Mentioned Having Conflict With ‘Family Matters’ Co-Stars
The new memoir comes just three years after Jaleel White claimed he had conflict with his Family Matters co-stars during production. He stated his nationwide fame was too much for his older co-stars.
“I didn’t see how I was stepping on anybody’s toes, I was taking anybody’s shine,” White explained during a 2021 interview with TVOne’s Uncensored. “It’s very important that I say this: I was not very well welcomed to the cast at all, okay? And I don’t need to rehash that with the adults over and over again. They know what it is.”
He also named VelJohnson and Payton as two of the co-stars who made him cry during a table read.
This was due to him playing the role of Steve’s female cousin, Myrtle Urkel. The veteran actors apparently were “very sensitive to putting Black men in dresses.”
“And they heaped that on me, and they let me know I was not doing our race a service by putting on that yellow dress,” White noted. “But everybody has a default. Do you crumble? Do you wilt under pressure?”
He continued, “Do you rise? Do you surprise yourself? My default tends to be to take it up a notch. That evening I felt like a girl… playing Myrtle Urkel.”