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Eva Longoria Opens Up About Controversial Teen Gardener Plotline On 'Desperate Housewives'
Remember the controversial plotline on Desperate Housewives?
You know, the one with 40-year-old Gabrielle Solis—played by Eva Longoria—having an affair with her 16-year-old gardener played by Jesse Metcalfe?
Longoria just opened up about this particular storyline to ET for a rETrospective and shared some details.
For example, Metcalfe wasn't even the original gardener in the series that ran for eight seasons.
She revealed a "younger kid" was initially cast:
"They recast him because they're like, 'He really looks 16!'"
Longoria shared new gardener Metcalfe was basically the same age as her in real life.
"He was 25 playing 16, and I was 27 playing 40."
"So Jesse and I were actually the same age so we didn't feel weird, but it was definitely much better chemistry and better for the story that it was Jesse."
She shared that others felt the same way.
"And it was so iconic!"
"I remember Jesse and I going everywhere together and people still come up to me and ask me like, 'Tell me about the gardener."
Whatever the case, though, people on social media also loved the casting.
\u201c@PerezHilton ~ i always LOVed his scenes\u2026 if ya know what i mean.\u201d— Perez Hilton (@Perez Hilton) 1686502765
\u201c@PerezHilton That was such a good show!\u201d— Perez Hilton (@Perez Hilton) 1686502765
Unsurprisingly, some thought the affair was not okay and demonstrated a clear double standard when women target underage boys versus when men target teenage girls.
\u201c@HuffPost She portrayed a sexual offender and it was cringe.\u201d— HuffPost (@HuffPost) 1687092026
In her interview, Longoria also expressed the belief the plotline would never work today.
"I don't know if we could do the show today. I think we'd get canceled."
"I mean, not canceled on TV, but like canceled in culture because it was so groundbreaking and we said and did so many things that were shocking at the time."
"I don't know where these ladies would be now in their life."
But some people on Twitter disagreed.
\u201c@PopCrave There was nothing shocking or cancel-able about that show\u201d— Pop Crave (@Pop Crave) 1686757179
\u201c@PopCrave No, LOL, you would not get canceled for that show\u2026Not then, not now. Puh-lease.\u201d— Pop Crave (@Pop Crave) 1686757179
\u201c@PopCrave I feel her words whole heartedly but give the people what they want \ud83c\udfad\u201d— Pop Crave (@Pop Crave) 1686757179
\u201c@PopCrave I love Desperate Housewives but nothing in it is cancelable..\u201d— Pop Crave (@Pop Crave) 1686757179
\u201c@PopCrave Nothing "problematic" ever occurred in Desperate Housewives. It was a good show, no need to make it sound so edgy LOL\u201d— Pop Crave (@Pop Crave) 1686757179
Regardless, Longoria is all about a reboot.
"I'd be the first to sign up."
Guess we'll see what happens.