Heavy/Getty/ABC Mauren McCormick and Barry Williams.
Barry Williams has one goal for his time on “Dancing With the Stars.”
The “Brady Bunch” star, 69, is a contestant on the 32nd season of the ABC celebrity ballroom competition, up against younger stars that include Ariana Madix and Harry Jowsey. But Williams’ biggest competition is with someone who isn’t even in the ballroom this season.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Williams joked about an ongoing rivalry he has with his TV sister, Maureen McCormick. When McCormick competed on DWTS in 2016, she went home during week seven. Williams told the outlet he wants to make it at least farther than that to settle a score dating back to their days on “The Brady Bunch.”
“I have to do that,” he said. “I lost that egg on the cone driving contest and she never let me live it down.”
Williams’ reference was to the 1974 “Brady Bunch” episode titled “The Driver’s Seat.”
In the episode, his character, Greg, challenges McCormick’s character, Marcia, to a driving test to prove that men are better drivers than women. The bet: The loser must do the winner’s chores for a whole year. After patriarch Mike Brady (Robert Reed) sets up an obstacle course for the two, Marcia pulls closest to a traffic cone without breaking the egg sitting on top of it. Greg, in turn, ends up with a broken egg — and egg on his face.
Barry Williams Said His TV Mom Wanted Him to Win ‘Dancing With the Stars’
ABC/GettyBarry Williams; the cast of The Brady Bunch’
McCormick wasn’t the only fair-haired Brady to compete on DWTS before Williams. The duo’s TV mom, Florence Henderson, became the first of the bunch to compete on the show back in 2010, where she remained in the competition for five weeks.
Williams told EW that before her death, Henderson told him she wanted him to compete in the TV dance-off. “She made no bones about it. She wanted me to pursue being on the show and to win it,” he said.
In a separate interview with People, Williams noted that “no Brady has taken it all the way to the end” on “Dancing With the Stars,” but that both of his predecessors lasted several weeks on the show. “So I’m hopeful that I’m going to be that person,” he said of being the Brady to make it to finale night on DWTS.
“I try and channel Florence Henderson, who encouraged me to pursue an invitation for ‘Dancing With the Stars,’” he added. “Being familiar with my theatrical background, she felt that I could do very well. And at that time, she had just been eliminated and asked if I would carry the torch.”
Barry Williams Tried to Get on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ For Years
Williams previously said he had been trying to snag a spot on “Dancing With the Stars” ever since the show started. In an interview with MeTV, he revealed that had been trying to get himself cast on the celebrity dancing show “since the second season,” which aired in 2006.
Williams told The Denver Post in 2008 that he had been “declined a couple of times” after putting the word out to the powers that be regarding his interest in being a contestant. “I put it out there,” he said.
At the time, he said he was “perfect for the show.” “I think I’m a lot better known than most of the people on that show,” the ‘Brady Bunch” star added. “And I’d have a ball doing it.”
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