Jaleel White Recalls 'Family Matters' Execs Being Uncomfortable With His 'Bulge'

Jaleel White had an awkward time coming into his teenage years while starring in the former ABC sitcom Family Matters.

In his new memoir, Growing Up Urkel, White, 47, reflected on his time starring in the show, which lasted for nine seasons from 1989 to 1998. The actor also detailed that Family Matters executives requested that he make significant changes as he got older.

"'Let’s get rid of the suspenders. Lower his pants, too. Oh, and... it’s getting a bit uncomfortable watching him in tight jeans. There’s a, uh... bulge...'" White recounted the execs saying in an excerpt per The Sun.

As he approached college age, White said he was "peeling" himself out of Urkel's signature jeans "like a banana." When he wasn't playing Urkel, White wore more relaxed attire when playing alter-ego Stefan Urquelle.

Taking on the character was discomforting to White in other ways, like Urkel's nasally voice altering the actor's tone altogether, which he shared at the 90s Con 2024 in September.

"I spoke to a doctor," he said during the event. "What happened is during puberty I spoke at the same pitch for extended periods of time. If the pitch had been going all over the place I wouldn't have damaged it quite as much. It's been in remission and I'm fine now."

White added that he began "really losing" his voice upon "constantly" receiving critiques from show execs.

"It was kind of a scary thing for me to go through," he said.

White has since refused to star in a Family Matters reboot, saying that it didn't feel right to "copy" the success of Full House spinoff Fuller House.

"What I imagine for any reboot effort would be inspired by what really happened. How Family Matters came to pass is actually a greater story than
what was made up inside the show," he said in the video below.