Jaleel White Claims Bianca Lawson Used Him For Clout During Teen Date

Jaleel White was one of the biggest child stars of the 1990s. His turn as Steve Urkel on Family Matters made him a household name, and has maintained his relevance to this day. The actor decided to look back on his career with his new memoir, Growing Up Urkel. In it he details his rise to fame, his struggle to transition to mature roles, and his love life. One of the most unexpected chapters, however, details a date with fellow actor Bianca Lawson. A date that did not go particularly well, and that Jaleel White still feels a bit of saltiness over.

In his memoir, Jaleel White claims that Bianca Lawson was his first ever date. He recalls being let down by the realization that Lawson was disinterested in him throughout the date. In fact, the only time White believes she showed any interest is when they stopped by an arcade and she needed money to play the games. They went on a second date, but Jaleel White admits it fizzled soon after. Upon reflecting on the date, the actor believes that his status was the only reason Lawson agreed to a date in the first place. He was a TV star, and Lawson had yet to breakthrough with Saved By the Bell: The New Class.

“I highly doubt my asking for her phone number would have gone the same way had my position in television not signaled a possible opportunity for her,” White writes in his memoir. “I imagine ambition is what won me her phone number in the first place. And probably extended our knowing each other.” The actor admitted he was unaware of Bianca Lawson’s career aspirations at the time. He didn’t realize she was an actress until he spotted her on the set of the Saved By the Bell spinoff a year later. Jaleel White claimed the realization hit him “like a ton of bricks.”

Bianca Lawson was not the only women who suffered White’s scorn in Growing Up Urkel. The actor and author claimed that Lawson and Daphne Duplaix played “pivotal” roles in his maturation. As far as he was concerned, they helped him gain an “understanding of female motivations in show business.” White also claimed to have run afoul of Gabrielle Union during their time at UCLA together. Years later, the actress told White that several of her classmates “hated” him due to his small screen success.