Keri Russell on Girls Dropped from Mickey Mouse Club for Appearing ‘Sexually Active’

The Diplomat star Keri Russell has alleged that girls who appeared “sexually active” were dropped from the popular TV series The Mickey Mouse Club.

Russell joined MMC at the age of 15 and was featured on the show from 1991 to 1994. This children’s TV show highlighted young talent with singing and dancing abilities and was instrumental in introducing future stars like Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Christina Aguilera.

In a recent interview on the Dinner’s on Me podcast with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, the now 48-year-old Russell discussed the dynamics that dictated young people’s involvement in the show. When asked if there was an age limit, Russell revealed a surprising criterion.

“It’s usually like girls who look like they were sexually active,” she claimed. “Which, probably, I was one of the first. They’re like, ‘She’s out! She is out! That one is gone.’”

However, the Felicity actor highlighted that this standard did not seem to apply to her male co-stars. Russell pointed out that one of her male MMC colleagues, with whom she was sexually active, was allowed to stay on the programme for several years after she was dropped.

“The boys stayed until they were, like, 19,” she shared. “I was like, ‘By the way, I’ve had sex with that person so I know that they’ve had sex.’”

Although Russell did not name the individual, it’s noteworthy that she has previously been romantically linked with fellow MMC member Tony Lucca, who left the show at the age of 19 in 1995.

“You know, girls and sexuality, people are like… and by the way, there’s me, I’m like a 12-year-old boy body. There’s nothing really sexy about me but I think that was what was [making me] nervous,” Russell said. “Pregnant Mouseketeers aren’t on the roster.”

Reflecting on her time as a child star, Russell described her experience on the show as “weird.”

“I think what’s really the creepiest part of kid acting is usually it’s one or two kids with all adults, and so that really accelerates the adultification of everything,” she said.

Despite this, Russell highlighted one unique aspect of her experience. “For The Mickey Mouse Club, there were 19 of us. The adults were invisible to me. I think that’s what was unique. I wasn’t completely alone with all the adults and I think that was helpful.”