Alan Thicke Reveals That He And His 'Growing Pains' Wife Joanna Kerns Discussed Dating Offscreen

Mr. And Mrs. Seaver From 'Growing Pains' Considered Dating In Real Life

Alan Thicke calls his "Growing Pains" co-star Joanna Kerns, "one of my great wives," but the leading lady only got the chance to fill that role onscreen, despite a flirtation between the actors off set.

"When 'Growing Pains' started, she had just been cancelled from a show and divorced. I had just been cancelled and divorced. We certainly had that in common, and we liked each other right off the bat," recalled Alan Thicke in a conversation with HuffPost Live on Wednesday.

Kearns and the "Unusually Thicke" star "thought it through," he said, and decided to keep things platonic.

"We made the very intelligent decision that the show might last longer than a relationship would, so would it be smart to just be friends and have that little bit of chemistry and preserve that, instead of going the other direction, which is fraught with peril?" Thicke recounted.

The actress who played Mrs. Seaver "was quite lovely," he added. "We're still in touch."

Sign up here for Live Today, HuffPost Live’s morning email that will let you know the newsmakers, celebrities and politicians joining us that day and give you the best clips from the day before!

Before You Go

Top 20 Sitcom Families

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot