The Love Boat's Bernie Kopell Says Guest Star Debbie Reynolds 'Always Had to Be the Center of Attention'

Mar. 15, 2025

‘The Love Boat’ star Bernie Kopell and Debbie Reynolds.Photo:ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Ken Bank /American Broadcasting Companies via Getty

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Ken Bank /American Broadcasting Companies via Getty

More than 2,000 guest stars appeared onThe Love Boatduring its 10-season run, and according toBernie Kopell, one of them tried to steal the spotlight.

“Debbie Reynoldsalways had to be the center of attention,” Kopell, who played Dr. Adam Bricker, said atThe Love Boat: Behind the Scenes Stories panel on the Enchanted Princess on Friday, Sept. 6.

The 91-year-old actor said “no magician was ever safe” around Reynolds, whodied in 2016at age 84 and appeared in multiple season 4 episodes ofThe Love Boatbefore popping up again in season 6.

“She didn’t care for some magicians,” Kopell continued. “And so, she went over to the band leader and she whispered something in his ear. I don’t know what it was. And then she came to me and she said, ‘Bernie, you don’t do anything. I’ll just do everything. You just stand there.’"

Debbie Reynolds, Bernie Kopell and Fred Grandy on ‘The Love Boat’ in 1983.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

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When speaking to PEOPLE duringPrincess Cruises’The Love BoatCelebration at Sea, Kopell said he enjoyed “talking about the various stars we had on the show” with fans who attended the cast Q&As on board with his costarsFred Grandy,Ted LangeandJill Whelan.

“I just loved the people who came aboard,” he gushed. “We’ve had some amazing, amazing people:Eva Marie Saint,Shirley Jones, Debbie Reynolds. I had fun with them, appreciated their talents.”

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Kopell also considered Jeraldine Saunders, whose 1974 bookThe Love BoatsinspiredThe Love Boatseries, a good friend. “She was just a beautiful woman. What a light,” he said. “We were really close. She chose to become a cruise director, and she never thought of herself as a writer, but she just jotted down some notes about the captain, the doctor, the purser and some guests, and here we are.”

Saunders died in February 2019 at age 95, and Kopell spoke at her memorial. Saunders’ legacy lives on throughThe Love Boat’s continued popularity, which has already inspired anotherLove BoatCelebration at Sea that will set sail on the Regal Princess from Nov. 16-23, 2025, and make stops throughout Mexico in Cozumel, Costa Maya and Roatan.

‘The Love Boat’ star Bernie Kopell with the Enchanted Princess crew on board the ‘Love Boat’ Celebration at Sea sailing 2024.Princess Cruises

Princess Cruises

Kopell considers his own legacy to be his two sons, the youngest of whom, Josh, wants to follow in his dad’s footsteps as an actor. “He wakes up singing and doing funny things and is a good, good boy,” Kopell said of his 22-year-old son.

As for the advice Kopell would give Josh, he said bluntly, “Don’t mess up!”

source: people.com