Jaleel White Says Family Matters Execs Made Him Adjust Urkel Costume Due to Visible Bulge

Jaleel White gets candid about his days Family matters.

In his forthcoming memoir Growing up Urkelthe now 47-year-old actor, who was a teenager when he shot to fame playing the Winslow family’s neighbor Steve Urkel on the beloved sitcom, opens up about his experience growing up in front of the camera.

In an excerpt from the book he first published SunWhite describes the physical and mental changes he experienced while filming the series from 1989 to 1998, and how he claims the showrunners adapted to them as well.

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Jaleel White and Reginald VelJohnson in ‘Family Matters’.

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

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While his character, who wore glasses and braces, spoke in a nasal voice and was known for his “Did I do it?” White says that by season eight, executives told him they didn’t want certain things to be part of his character anymore.

“Let’s get rid of the suspenders. Take his pants down, too. Oh, and… he’s getting a little uncomfortable to watch in skinny jeans. There’s, um… a bulge…” White claims he was told.

Speaking about growing out of his character, he said he felt like he was “peeling” out of his pants “like a banana” when he was in college.

Cover of ‘Growing Up Urkel’.

Simon & Schuster

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While speaking at 90s Con 2024 in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Sept. 15, White revealed that playing a television character has also affected his voice.

“I talked to the doctor and what happened is that during puberty I was talking on the same pitch for a long time. If the pitch had gone everywhere, I wouldn’t have damaged it as much,” he said of his character’s speaking tone.

Jaleel White at SiriusXM Studios in New York on September 10, 2024.

Santiago Felipe/Getty

Although he said his voice problems were “in remission” and he was “fine now”, he recalled being a teenager and feeling like he was “really losing” his voice after getting “constant” notes from executives.

“It was terrifying what I was going through,” he said.

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Growing up Urkel will be available on bookshelves on Tuesday, November 19, from Simon & Schuster. It is also available for pre-order, wherever books are sold.

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