Vanessa Williams Says “Ugly Betty” Faced ‘Obstacle After Obstacle’ During 4-Season Run: ‘No One Cared About Us’
Vanessa Williams Says “Ugly Betty” Faced ‘Obstacle After Obstacle’ During 4-Season Run: ‘No One Cared About Us’
Virginia ChamleeMon, August 17, 2026 at 7:35 PM UTC
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Vanessa WilliamsCredit: Andrew Eccles/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Simon Ackerman/Getty -
Vanessa Williams is sharing how Ugly Betty faced challenges early in its run
Williams revealed the cast and crew lacked some of the support and frills of other shows, even after it won a Golden Globe
The show also struggled with obstacles like the 2008 financial crisis and a writers’ strike before its cancellation
While the sitcom Ugly Betty grew to become critically acclaimed in its four-season run, it was far from beloved in its early days, says Vanessa Williams.
Based on the Colombian telenovela Yo soy Betty, la fea, the showaired from 2006 to 2010 andfollowed the life of Betty Suarez (played by America Ferrera), an intelligent and ambitious woman who defied beauty and fashion norms when she secured a job at the prestigious fashion magazine Mode. Williams played Wilhelmina Slater,
Speaking in a recent episode of Dinner’s On Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Williams, 63, recounted, “So basically, we were a Friday night show. No one cared about us at all.”
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Vanessa WilliamsCredit: Dave Benett/Getty
“They did not provide breakfast for us,” Williams said. “When we got nominated and won the Golden Globe, I paid for like a waffle — one of those pop-up waffle [stations]. Because we had zero — they still didn’t care.”
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But though the show began to grow in its acclaim and fan base, it faced other challenges, Williams noted.
“And then we had the writers’ strike,” she said. “That was one of those shows that just, obstacle after obstacle, but our audience loved us, but they kept moving us, and it was the 2008 financial crisis and you know, we just kept chugging along and then they finally just said, ‘nope,’ which is unfortunate.”
She continued: “We were heartbroken. Because we tried and tried to cut corners.”
“The visual value of what we would produce on a weekly basis was extraordinary,” she said. “And it just got too expensive for the time period. But it was the best show I’ve ever done on television.”
After ABC moved the show multiple times, including to Friday nights, live viewing numbers suffered and the show was canceled in 2010.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
