Barry Williams From The Brady Bunch Once Dated His On-Screen Mom Florence Henderson

Celebrity co-stars who've dated are fairly common — for instance, many actors from the Shondaland universe have dated in real life. Not many actors playing mother and son have gone on a date, but "The Brady Bunch" stars Barry Williams and Florence Henderson did. Williams played oldest son Greg on the hit '60s and '70s show, while Henderson played his stepmom, Carol. Not one of the 117 episodes included a plotline that had Greg and Carol get together (thankfully) but what happened in real life was a different story. Henderson was 20 years Williams' senior, which is actually less of a difference than other celebrity age gap relationships — though they didn't have much of a relationship at all.

In September 2024, Williams revealed to Us Weekly that he crushed on Henderson when they were filming the show. He recounted making plans for the two of them, based on conversations they had about music. "I had found this singer coming into the Copacabana near Beverly Hills. I can't think of exactly where it was, but I invited her to go together as a date, and she said, 'OK,' so I was thrilled. And now for me, it was a date," he said. While that's not exactly the image people instantly think of when they hear "date," it was certainly one to Williams, who actually kissed her goodnight. "I did go in for a little kiss ... and she was nice enough to return it," he told the outlet. "So it was a highlight. Nice little peck, yes."

Williams discussed the innocence of his crush on Henderson in "Growing Up Brady," his book published in 1992: "It wasn't that I sought to bed her. I just wanted to spend time with her" (via Biography).

Florence Henderson did not consider her so-called date with Barry Williams to be one at all; she was married, and she and Williams were reportedly 36 and 15 when it took place. "I guess in a sense it was a date, because Barry thought it was. But of course, I had no idea that his intentions were to 'date' me," she said on her website (per Biography). Speaking to People in 1991, the "Mom's on Strike" actor shared nice words for Williams: "It was so sweet because Barry made sure we had a good table. After the show, his brother picked him up and took him home." 

However, Williams confessed in his Us Weekly interview that the onscreen siblings from "The Brady Bunch" had some offscreen romantic connections, though it wasn't always during the shooting of the show: "We all hooked up with each other at some point." For a wholesome family-friendly series about a blended family, picturing the TV siblings romantically together is quite bizarre. Williams further explained how the six of them paired off with each other: Williams with Maureen McCormick (Marcia), Christopher Knight (Peter) with Eve Plumb (Jan), and even Mike Lookinland (Bobby) with Susan Olsen (Cindy).

In 2019, the "Brady Bunch" kids, now all grown up, appeared on "Watch What Happens Live" and answered some "shady" questions. The cast relationships not forgotten, McCormick was asked to rate her first kiss with Williams. McCormick gave the smooch two thumbs up, nodding to seemingly rate it a 10. Williams then leaned over and gave his TV sister a peck on the cheek, and the two smiled.