Ted Danson Reveals He Felt Undeserving of His 'Sex Symbol' Status During 'Cheers' Fame
Despite the fame of Cheers as one of TV's biggest sitcoms, Ted Danson never understood fans labeling him a sex symbol. The actor opens up about how he would "swallow" his protests when people would call him "sexy."
In an episode of Where Everybody Knows Your Name, Danson had Parent Trap star Lisa Ann Walter as his guest. She soon broached the topic of how the 78-year-old actor felt when he figured out he was a "hottie" during the height of the sitcom's fame. He admitted that he never saw himself as the attractive guy woman would swoon over.
"I won't go back too far because it's not necessary, but I was the guy who literally I would be, the woman would be standing opposite me naked and I'd be going ‘What?' I'd look over my shoulder and be like, ‘You mean me?'" he said.
"Literally, it took me until the second year of ‘Cheers' when I decided, ‘You know what? Keep your mouth shut, Ted.'"
The sitcom aired in late September of 1982, with Danson having been around 34 years old when it premiered. His role as bar owner, Sam Malone, solidified the actor as a TV heartthrob with his tall physique, perfect smile, perfectly made hair, and overall charm on screen. Danson soon became known as a "sex symbol," but admits that whenever people outside the set mentioned it, he would start to protest and would instead "have to swallow it."
The actor even has a theory as to why audiences gave him the label, and it has to do with casting. Dansen felt that Cheers would purposefully hire attractive and "very sexy looking women" to look at his sitcom character and think, "Wow, he's sexy."
"I got that mantle and I finally learned to keep my mouth shut," he said.
Walter confirms, as a fan of the series during its peak years, that the actor was "killing it" and his title was well deserved. She explains that it wasn't only due to Sam's sex appeal written in the script, but also Dansen's ability to act out his character's charm seamlessly.
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This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 9:48 AM.