The real reason why Lindsay Lohan’s Ugly Betty episodes were reduced

Although there were many rumors about why Lindsay Lohan’s Ugly Betty episodes were reduced, the decision may have actually just been due to a fast-paced and chaotic set.

Many actors, models and singers made special guest appearances on Ugly Betty over the course of the show’s four seasons.

But fans still talk about Lindsay Lohan’s guest appearance in the third season of the series since there were so many rumors about a feud between her and the show’s lead.

Ugly Betty guest stars

There are many reasons why fans tuned in weekly to watch new episodes of Ugly Betty when the show was first airing on ABC between 2006 and 2010.

But one of the most exciting of these reasons were the various celebrity guest stars who made surprise appearances throughout the show.

Some of the not-so familiar faces who guest starred on the series during its four season run, include Adele (who guest-starred as herself), Christine Baranski as Victoria Hartley, Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Gabe Farkus, Bernadette Peters as Jodi Papadakis, Gabrielle Union as Renee Slater.

This includes others like Christian Siriano, Naomi Campbell, Adriana Lima, Nina Garcia, who also played themselves.

The real reason why Lindsay Lohan’s Ugly Betty episodes were reduced

Even though watching out for special guest appearances on the series became a popular sideline hobby for the Ugly Betty fans, no special guest made as big of a splash as actress, Lindsay Lohan did.

Lohan joined the cast of Ugly Betty, as Betty’s old high school bully Kimmie Keegan, for the second season finale, and the third season of the show, which started airing on September 25, 2008.

At the time, Lohan’s appearance on the show was perceived as a comeback, or at the very least, a rebound to acting after all of the personal struggles she had faced in the years prior.

But, when Lohan’s Ugly Betty episodes were unexpectedly slashed from the initially planned total of six, to just four, it did not take long for rumors to start circulating.

While inside sources on the Ugly Betty production team reported that Lohan had brought a large “entourage of people” to set, compulsively cut out pictures of herself from tabloids, and left her dressing room in such a state that it needed to be repainted, Lohan’s camp disagreed.

Instead, these sources reported that the lead actress, America Ferrera (who plays Betty), was actually to blame for the on-set feud and that she had “too much power” on set.

However, now that more than a decade has passed, some more insight has surfaced about this alleged feud.

Was the feud between America Ferrera and Lindsay Lohan real?

Back when the rumors about Ferrera and Lohan’s feud had just started circulating, Ferrera’s rep steered clear of fanning the flames, only stating, “America is grateful to have had her on the show and thinks everyone should tune in to see how great the episodes are”.

However, Ferrera later told the Daily Mail that these rumors may have just misinterpreted her own on-set jitters.

Ferrera admitted that she and Lohan had to repeat one scene about 30 times, because Ferrera kept “fluffing” her lines. But she clarified that the moment had them both “in hysterics”.

What the other Ugly Betty actors have said

Venessa Williams, the measured Wilhelmina Slater on the series, actually provided the most believable reason for why Lohan’s Ugly Betty stint was cut so short, in a 2009 interview with Digital Spy.

Williams admitted that single episodes of Ugly Betty could take up to 10 days to film, and that Lohan, who was used to the pace of film production, struggled to adapt to the grueling hours and fast-paced production of the television series.

Ana Ortiz (who portrays Hilda) and Mark Indelicato (who plays Justin) also gave some context for what Lindsay may have been dealing with at the time, describing the “mayhem” of all of the paparazzi that would follow Lindsay around when they were filming on-location.

Where to watch season three of Ugly Betty

If you want to re-watch the Ugly Betty episodes that Lohan appeared in, to judge for yourself whether there is any real tension beneath the surface of their fictional on-screen rivalry, there are quite a few options for you to choose from.

Besides the season two finale episode, Lohan’s “Kimmie” is featured in the first, fifth and sixth episodes of the third season.

Moreover, the entire Season three of Ugly Betty is available to purchase on a range of online platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Vudu and Apple TV.

You can also stream all four seasons of Ugly Betty on the Hulu and Netflix subscription-based streaming services.