Why did Jo Marie leave family matters? Popular actress Jo Marie Payton rose to huge fame and success after playing the role of Harriette Baines Winslow in the hit ABC/CBS series Family Matters. The actress went on to be the host of her own show on the Hometeam Network, named Second Chance with Jomarie Payton. She later released a jazz album.
Jo Marie Payton went on to star in several notable shows and series, including Moesha, Will & Grace, The Rev, and Mann and Wife. She also lent her voice to the character of Suga Mama on the animated Disney Channel series The Proud Family.
The actress is all set to reprise her role in the Disney+ revival titled, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder. While one of the series regulars on the show Family Matters, fans were taken aback when the actress left the show midway through its final season. Let us find out why did Jo Marie leave family matters.
Why did Jo Marie leave family matters?
Jo Marie leaving Family Matters took fans by surprise, but it seems like the popular actress had some good reasons to leave the show behind. While talking about it, Jo Marie Payton admitted that she felt stifled at times during her time on the show, and while Marie was allowed to do other projects, if a project was delayed, she was told that she could not make it when it was finally rescheduled.
The actress stated that she just needed something extra to do while pointing out that she just never wanted to stop acting, as she has been acting since she was six years old and was admittedly just tired of doing that project and wanted to do something else.
When the show moved to CBS, the series star was asked to come back. However, Payton admitted that she didn’t want to return as she had just done her jazz album and all. Payton explained that they agreed that she would come back just to kick off the move to CBS, and that is how that whole deal went.
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Jo Marie Payton Talks About Her Exit
While the popular actress left the series halfway through the final season, she did make her final appearance in the Dec. 19, 1997 episode, which was her 200th. Meanwhile, Judyann Elder replaced Jo Marie in the role for the last nine episodes.
While talking about her departure, Jo Marie revealed that she made the decision to leave the show two years before she left. The actress admitted that she was unhappy about a lot of things and was also going through a divorce while not being happy on the show but pointed out that it did not imply that she did not want to perform as an actress or an artist.
Did Jo Marie And Jaleel White Fought On Set?
It seems like Jo Marie Payton and co-star Jaleel White had a brief fallout on the sets as Payton earlier claimed that White wanted to physically fight her during the filming of the season 9 episode, “Original Gangsta Dawg.” The actor went on to recall how the actor was kicking and screaming after her response.
Jo Marie Payton went on to state that it was White’s sudden rise to stardom that may have resulted in his problematic on-set behavior.
However, years later, the actor explained that she saw White as just a kid during that time, and she really does not give him all the credit for this behavior as she believes that the Family Matters actor was allowed by the adults around him to run wild and allowed him to do whatever he wanted which resulted in hurting people’s feelings.
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