Not so charmed.
Kaley Cuoco claimed Rose McGowan snubbed her on the set of “Charmed” 20 years ago.
The “Big Bang Theory” alum, 40, detailed her “terrifying” experience joining the WB fantasy drama in 2005 – and the not-so-warm welcome she received from McGowan – during a recent episode of Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast.
“You know when you do so many things and you just forget about terrible moments?” Cuoco began. “Imagine this: I’ve never met anyone. It’s their gallery shoot.”
She continued, “I’m the new girl. You’ve got Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan, and Holly Marie Combs. I’ve never met them. Think about that. I’m joining their family photo, and I’m 21.”
Although the cast’s gallery shoot went off without a hitch, Cuoco claimed that things got “dicey” once the co-stars took a break for lunch.
“I walk in that gallery, and I am so freaking nervous,” she explained. “It’s on their lunch break. They’re all in the corners eating.”
Cuoco continued, “I walk in, Alyssa Milano sees me, and – I will always tell this story about her – she got up, ran over to me, and welcomed me to the show, gave me the biggest hug in the world, so happy, so kind. I will never forget that.”
But McGowan, 52, was not nearly as thrilled to have Cuoco join the hit show, according to the “8 Simple Rules” alum.
“Rose [was] maybe not as happy. I don’t know,” Cuoco said. “I still don’t know if she likes me. I don’t know. But Alyssa was amazing. I was terrified. It’s a weird thing coming into a show with them in year eight, and I only did the one season.”
A rep for McGowan did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
“Charmed” premiered on the WB in October 1998. Milano, 53, and Combs, 52, starred as magical sisters Phoebe and Piper Halliwell alongside Shannen Doherty’s Prue Halliwell.
Doherty, however, abruptly left the series at the end of Season 3 in May 2001 following rumors of on-set problems with Milano.
McGowan ultimately joined as Paige Matthews for Season 4 to fill the void left behind by Doherty’s departure. Doherty sadly passed away following a lengthy battle with breast cancer in July 2024. She was 53.
As for Cuoco, she joined “Charmed” as Billie Jenkins in 2005 for the show’s eighth and final season.
The “Vanished” star seemed to hint at her and McGowan’s frosty “Charmed” dynamic further during an interview with the Independent published Saturday.
“I came into ‘Charmed’ really not thinking anything other than I got this cool job,” she told the outlet. “It was intense and difficult.”
Cuoco added, “There were a few people on that show that were wonderful to me, and there were a few people that weren’t. I remember them both very clearly.”
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