For nearly three decades, rumors floated about why Jo Marie Payton abruptly walked away from her iconic role as Harriette Winslow midway through the final season of “Family Matters.” One popular belief is that she couldn’t tolerate working alongside Jaleel White, whose breakout character, Steve Urkel, forced the show to change its premise.
But according to the matriarch herself, the truth is far less scandalous than what the rumor mill has led you to believe: She was simply ready for a change of pace. In “Family Matters” — one of the best spin-offs in television history — Payton played Harriette, her character from “Perfect Strangers,” the sassy, sharp-witted mother who kept the Chicago-based Winslow clan grounded. Yet, behind the scenes, Payton was itching for an escape.
During a candid interview with TV Series Finale, Payton revealed that her desire to leave the show was brewing years before her departure. “I had been offered an opportunity to do the Mahalia Jackson story and I wanted to do something else,” Payton explained, adding that she routinely approached the network with her agent to brainstorm new projects. “Bob Saget was doing ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos.’ I just wanted something else to do, just to energize me a little bit more, on the creative side.”
Jo Marie Payton was hurt by rumors that suggested she was jealous of a kid
Eventually, Payton felt “stifled” when potential opportunities would fall through the cracks due to production constraints. Using a perfect culinary analogy, she noted, “A baker that loves to bake doesn’t want to stop baking. They just don’t always want to make chocolate cake or chocolate cookies … I never wanted to stop acting … It’s just that I was tired of doing that project.”
When her original contract expired at the end of Season 8, Payton was officially a “free agent.” However, production staff persuaded her to stick around for an extra two years. When “Family Matters” jumped networks from ABC to CBS for its ninth season, Payton agreed to a compromise. “I would come back just to kick off the move to CBS and that’s how that whole deal went,” she told the outlet. “I was to do half of a season, eight of the episodes. And I had an option out and I exercised my option.”
But when she did finally leave mid-season (with actress Judyann Elder stepping in to play Harriette in what is considered one of the worst recasts in TV), it raised eyebrows, fueling false rumors about cast tension. “It did hurt, because it made me look like this scandalous person, that was jealous of this kid,” Payton admitted, clarifying that she prefers to shoot straight from the hip.
After parting ways with the Winslow household, Payton leaned into her passions, even dropping a jazz album. She also took on multiple guest-starring roles in shows like “Moesha” and “Will & Grace,” and found success in voice acting, most notably bringing the unforgettable, hot-tempered Suga Mama to life in Disney’s hit animated series “The Proud Family.”
