It wasn’t all smooth sailing on “The Love Boat.”
Lauren Tewes, who played Julie McCoy on the series since its debut in 1977, was let go from the show in 1984 due to her cocaine use.
Her co-star Fred Grandy, who played Burl “Gopher” Smith, now wishes he had handled the situation with Tewes differently.
“My one regret about her situation was that I never really came forward and defended and supported her in a way that we should have,” he said in the CW’s docuseries “TV We Love,” per People Magazine. “So there is some regret there, at least as far as I’m concerned.”
Grandy also described the party-like atmosphere during the show’s production, particularly after they started going international.
“The third season, they began to say, ‘Why not the world?'” he said. “‘Why don’t we go to Australia? Why don’t we go to Greece and the Mediterranean? Why don’t we go to England and Norway and Copenhagen and places like that?’ And eventually, ‘Why don’t we become the first show to ever go to China?'”
As Grandy put it, “there was a disco on every ship, and they’d usually be filled at night. There was a casino. Let’s face it, this is a business where a lot of people use controlled substances in one way, shape, or form.”
But for Tewes, she struggled with her addiction and suffered harsher consequences.
“It was a different time,” she said in the documentary. “I was a woman, so I was blacklisted for that.”
In 1985, Tewes opened up about her addiction and losing her job in an interview with TV Guide (via UPI).
“I wanted to be one of the gang. I am ashamed to say it, but it’s true,” she said at the time. “The first time I took cocaine, I had just gotten the job on ‘The Love Boat,’ and I was on my way to a party. My date said, ‘Let’s do drugs.’ And I said, ‘What the heck?'”
“You think you are fine,” she continued. “You think you are stronger, braver. I thought it gave me the courage I missed. It was like going to Oz and asking for courage, but instead, I got cocaine.”
Tewes was able to become sober by the time “The Love Boat” concluded, and made a few additional appearances on the show after she was initially let go.
“TV We Love” airs Mondays on the CW.