Actor Reggie Hayes did not take well to the ending of the show Girlfriends. Hayes, who played William Dent on the show, admitted that after the Mara Brock Akil series was cancelled, he suffered through a major depression for years.
“It was real rough on me,” Hayes said in a Comedy Hype teaser from an upcoming episode of Unforgotten. “I got real depressed for years and I went up to 300 pounds.”
The Emmy-nominated sitcom lasted for eight seasons before coming to a close in 2008 to the dismay of many viewers. Despite social media campaigns to revitalize the series through a Sex and the City type movie trilogy, production banners Happy Camper and Grammnet Productions and distributor Paramount Network Television have yet to pursue the idea. In 2020, rights to the series was acquired by Netflix in celebration of the 20th anniversary since the show premiered.
As far as the actors on the show, Tracie Ellis Ross has moved on to bigger and better things, securing a much loved role on Black-ish and starring in a host of films. Jill Marie Jones (Toni) landed a handful of roles on some pretty popular TV series, including Sleepy Hollow, Ash vs Evil Dead, Delilah, and Monogamy. Golden Brooks and Persia White continued to lock down gigs, as well, doing a series of TV cameos and straight-to-streaming platform films. Hayes was not as lucky. He was off the radar for about four years before returning for a small role in the TV series Femme Fatales. Although he had parts in several series, nothing stuck until he landed his role as Mayor Billy Black in the now cancelled series Black Lightning.
“When there’s no work, you kind of just stay in bed,” Hayes continued. “You have the TV in the bedroom, and then you eat in bed — and then, you turn 40.”
Watch the official teaser of Unforgotten below:
